Last One Standing
by amantebandido
Summary: The four most unlikely teens get banded together to play a terrible game that leads them to the darkest places on Earth. Who is forcing them to play, and what do they know about the connection between Artemis and his mysterious new bodyguard?
1. Sins: The Game Begins

**A/N: Alright. This is a story that I am really excited for and have been planning for months. It's a bit dark and will maybe be a little frightening at times, but it's more mystery than horror. The events in this story take place after the Last Colony, but before the Time Paradox. **

**Also, I dislike Minerva as much as the rest of you out there-- but I am giving Colfer the benefit of the doubt (because I love him that much) and will say that Minerva was just a brat in LC because she was young. She is in this story and I matured her up a great deal. So if Minerva seems a little OOC-- it is because of the time change. And honestly, would you really rather her be in character?**

**Okay, so after this novel length author's note, I just want to say, here is the first chapter. I hope that you all enjoy it!!**

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**The Last One Standing**

Sins: The Game Begins

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Artemis had two problems on his hand— both of them in the form of very unwelcome guests. The first, a childhood "friend" returned from years of jetsetting and general debauchery. The second...well the second was a little bit more complicated.

"Mother, I do not need another bodyguard," Artemis whispered fiercely, grabbing Angeline and dragging her into the nearest room, making sure to close the door firmly behind him.

"Darling, you know that Butler is in no shape to protect you anymore," Angeline answered kindly, "why don't you just give Ryn a chance?"

Artemis exhaled deeply, trying not to think of the lithe girl that was standing in the front parlor of the Fowl manor.

"The Fowls have legitimized their businesses and have minimized animosity between partners," the boy said calmly, "I do not need to be protected all of the time anymore".

"A Fowl is always in danger," Angeline said firmly, "and besides Madam Ko herself sent this girl over".

"What does that have to do with anything?" Artemis demanded, "this girl looks as old as me and about as strong as well. I doubt that she will be able to defend me against anything".

"Power and size are not the same thing. You can be small and be powerful," Angeline retorted. Artemis almost snorted at the statement. He of all people should understand that size had nothing to do with power. After all, he had seen the LEP agents in full action. But still, there was something strange about this new girl.

"Mother, there is something odd about her. I don't get a safe feeling when I see her," Artemis said, hoping to appeal to the woman's emotional side. Angeline wouldn't have any of it, though.

"We cannot offend Madam Ko by sending Ryn back so soon," she said, "just bear with her for a while. I am sure that you will become more comfortable with her in time".

Artemis sighed. He knew that he had lost the argument. But he had never really expected to win in the first place; they didn't call Angeline Fowl the most stubborn woman in the world for no reason.

"Besides," Angeline said, a sly smile spreading on her face, "you won't just be looking after yourself in the future, will you?'

"What in the world are you talking about, mother?" Artemis asked, eyes narrowing. Angeline grabbed hold of one of her son's hands.

"I am just saying that you are growing up very quickly. Who knows when you will one day decide to get married and start your own family," she said. Artemis gaped at her.

"I am only eighteen!" he cried out. Angeline just shrugged.

"You never know, Fowls tend to get married early" she said, "besides Minerva has been over here quite often lately. And I have never wanted to be an old grandmother"

"I am not going to get married anytime soon," Artemis said, snatching his hand back, "aren't the twins young enough for you? Why are you thinking about grandchildren already?"

"Alright, I promise not to bring up the topic of marriage anymore if you promise to give Ryn a chance for a while," Angeline said. Artemis sighed deeply.

" Fine," he said angrily, walking towards the door. He didn't like the idea of Ryn at all, but there really was nothing he could do. He reached to the door handle, turning it.

"Oh, and Artemis," Angeline called as the boy was opening the door. Artemis turned his head and looked at her.

"I still have the engagement ring that your father gave me, just in case you ever wanted to use it for some reason," she said with a smile. Artemis gave her an incredulous look and stormed out of the room, firmly closing the door behind him._ That insufferable woman!_

The boy made his way down the main stairs into the parlor, his mood already darkened. So seeing Ryn, the newest intruder in the Fowl manor, standing calmly by the parlor door didn't help his mood at all.

Artemis just stood there, looking at the person in front of him. Ryn wasn't much of a looker, even in Artemis's lenient standards. She was quite tall, around 5'9, and lean. Her hair was a dark brown and fell to her shoulders in a odd, choppy manner—as if she had taken a pair of garden shears to it without having a mirror in sight. Her features might have been pretty if she decided to put makeup on, but she seemed like the type of person who never would. In fact, the only spectacular thing about were her eyes—which were the same brilliant shade of blue as Artemis's.

Her appearance wasn't threatening, but there was something about her that wasn't right.

"You can stay," Artemis said curtly to the girl. She just nodded her head. _As though I didn't hear every word of the conversation_, she thought to herself bitterly,_ who wouldn't be able to with those two talking as loudly as they had been_.

"You will stay in the quarters next to mine," the boy continued, "I am sure that Madam Ko provided you with a sufficient blueprint of the manor".

Once again, Ryn just nodded her head obediently. The boy just looked at her.

"Then you will be able to show yourself to your room," he said, still standing his place, looking at the girl with a single eyebrow raised—as though he was challenging her.

Ryn just picked up her bags and made her way up the large set of stairs. Artemis observed at her as she walked up the steps, wondering what in the world was wrong with the girl. She reached the top of the steps and suddenly stopped. Artemis looked as she turned her head and pinned him with those eyes—so similar to his own.

"I am not taking his place," she said simply. Artemis frowned.

"You never will," he answered. Ryn dropped her bags and turned, facing him fully.

"I will not be as loyal as him," she stated blankly. Artemis' eyes widened fractionally. So finally, she was showing some personality.

"Not a good trait for a bodyguard, disloyalty" he said. Ryn shook her head.

"I did not say that I would be disloyal," she said simply, "I just cannot be as completely subservient as the Butlers"

"Subservient?" Artemis asked, "I thought that was a requirement for a bodyguard. What makes you so different from the Butlers?"

"I have a life outside of yours," Ryn states simply.

"So you will be leaving often?" Artemis asked. The girl shook her head once more.

"I will take the first Sunday of every month off," she said, "that is all I need. Other than that, I will be all yours".

"And the purpose for this monthly day off?" Artemis asked. The girl just looked at him.

"I will take the first Sunday of every month off," she said once again, "that is all".

And with that, se took her bags and proceeded down the hallway, away from the stairs. Artemis just looked at her from above, not quite knowing what to make of the girl and her odd request.

He didn't need protection, so he didn't care how many days off Ryn took. But the fact that she wouldn't tell him what she was going to do on these monthly absences put him off guard.

"Who's side is she working for?" Artemis wondered out loud. The personal threat level that he had calculated was minimal, but his mother's words still rang loudly in his head. _A Fowl is always in danger_…

Suddenly a loud noise sounded from the other side of the parlor, interrupting the boy's thoughts. Cautiously, Artemis turned around to see the intruder.

Standing a few feet from him was a very familiar figure—a tiny girl with a waterfall of flaxen curls and large, sparkling eyes. Though normally demure and controlled, the girl's eyes were currently lit in up a livid light blue.

"Minerva, you look less than enchanted today," Artemis said coolly. The girl strode towards him.

"You never told me that you knew Aidan Masters," she whispered harshly to him. Artemis sighed slightly.

"Do not tell me that pervert has finally made his way onto our property," he said drolly.

"If by that pervert, you mean me, then yes, I have," a boy called, stepping into the parlor. Artemis turned his eyes towards one of the two new menaces in his life.

Aidan Masters was no new figure to Artemis. The boys had grown up next to each other in their childhood. Then, when Artemis went of to boarding school, Aidan took to traveling the world—hopping from one exclusive prep school to another. It wasn't as though money was an issue. The boy was heir to the Masters Financial Group—a company so powerful that all of Ireland, if not all of Europe, depended on them.

Aidan's inheritance was too large to imagine, as was his arrogance. The boy had it all, infinite money, and angelic looks to boot. Tall and thin, Aidan was blessed with perfectly delicate features, a head of immaculately styled platinum hair, and stunning eyes a wondrous shade of dark emerald. And with his looks and his money, it took no one by surprise that he was a arrogant, immature boy. With a sharp and quick temper and a knack for being a fierce womanizer, Aidan had the body of an angel but the mind and soul of a devil.

"Happy to see me?" Aidan asked Artemis, grinning.

"Happy is not exactly the word I would choose," Artemis said.

"Ah yes, you are a genius. You would probably say something more along the lines of…"

"Exultant" Minerva chimed in. Aidan raised his eyebrows a fraction.

"It seems as though you have snagged yourself a genius girlfriend as well," he said, "how typical".

"I am neither happy nor exultant to see you here, Aidan," Artemis said, "and I do not understand why you decided to drop by so unceremoniously."

"I thought that since we were going to be neighbors again, it was only polite of me to drop by and say hello," Aidan answered.

"Since when have you been known to be polite?" Artemis asked. Minerva saw Aidan clench his fists at his side and quickly grabbed onto Artemis' arm. If Aidan's temper became riled, there is no limit to what the boy would do. Of course, Aidan never punished anybody himself-- he was too lazy to. But no matter what he decided to do-- the person he was targeting always suffered.

"Artemis, he is your neighbor now," Melinda said smoothly, "it would be best for the two of you to get along".

Artemis looked down at the girl and nodded. That was one thing he noticed about Minerva ever since he had returned. She had matured greatly.

"That really is a smart girl you have there," Aidan said, "rather pretty as well—and my standards are quite high".

"How flattering," Minerva said, her voice tinged with irony that was totally lost on Aidan.

I try," the boy answered with a sly grin.

While Minerva and Aidan continued on their verbal duet, Artemis's mind wandered back to Ryn. _Why wasn't that girl back yet? Hadn't she just wanted to place her bags in her room?_ Normally, Artemis wouldn't care, but the girl's earlier words still had him a bit off guard.

"Minerva, Aidan. Excuse me for a moment, I have to get something from upstairs," he said quickly.

"Do you need help?" Minerva asked, seemingly nervous at being left alone with Aidan.

"It is fine," Artemis said, flashing the girl an understanding smile. She was a smart girl, she would figure out how to handle Aidan, "I will only be gone a moment."

"Take your time," Aidan answered, raising a single eyebrow at Artemis. Artemis could not even begin to fathom the meaning behind that gesture—and he was fairly sure that if he knew, the answer would disgust him.

Without another word, the raven-headed boy went up the stairs and turned into the left wing. The left wing of the Fowl manor was specifically designated for family bedrooms and personal offices. Strangers and guests were never allowed in it—and so the fact that Angeline Fowl had chosen to place Ryn in the left wing meant something large.

"Obviously mother plans to keep te girl around for some time," Artemis whispered bitterly to himself. He hadn't bought Angeline's 'just bear with her for a while' argument; but still—giving Ryn a room in the left wing seemed so final.

Sighing, Artemis reached the room. He was surprised to see that the door was cracked open a little.

"What kind of bodyguard would just leave a door open like this?" he asked, shaking his head. The boy had the tendency to talk aloud to himself when something was truly bothering him.

Slowly, he raised a fist to the door and knocked. There was no response. He tried once more, yet still there was completes silence on the other side of the door.

"Ryn, I am coming in," Artemis said as he cautiously opened the door of the room. He stepped inside to find it completely empty. Frowning slightly, Artemis made his way into the room.

Ryn's bags were placed neatly next to the bed, and Artemis could see that the girl had even unpacked a few things and had placed them around the room. The clock on the bedside table caught his attention, especially, though. The boy walked over and touched the clock lightly. He recognized it right away—it was the make of a very famous Chinese company that sold their products exclusively in China. The clock model that Ryn possessed was a very rare one and was most likely quite expensive.

"How could she afford to buy one of these?" Artemis questioned, "and when was she in China?"

The boy's eyes moved from the clock to a small binder next to it. Artemis immediately recognized the binder. It was many of the reference binders that his father kept in his office. _What was Ryn doing with it?_ Artemis immediately picked it up and looked at the cover.

"Lawyers," he read out loud. Over the years Artemis Fowl II had collected the names and numbers of every lawyer that he had ever consulted—and in the business endeavors that the Fowls used to partake in, there were quite a few contacts in there.

"What in the world is Ryn doing with this?" Artemis asked, putting the small tome back on the table. What would the girl need a lawyer for? Usually bodyguards and lawyers ran in completely separate circles. Butler had never needed a lawyer before.

Suddenly there came a noise from the bathroom. Artemis turned around. He had failed to see before that the bathroom light was on. He quickly made his way to the door. He had just positioned himself in the doorway when Ryn stepped out of the bathroom.

She looked up at him, her face completely impassive. She moved over to her bed without saying a word.

"I came to see if you had put your bags away and to make sure that the room was of your taste" Artemis said, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Your mother dropped by a few moments earlier to ask the same thing," Ryn said, "you seem to have a very gracious family".

"We just know how to be polite," Artemis said. Ryn nodded her head, not saying a word. She looked down at the bedside table. Artemis observed the girl closely and saw that her eyes lingered on the binder a little longer than was normal.

"Do you want to go back downstairs?" Ryn asked, turning towards Artemis, "I have placed my bags away already"

"Alright," Artemis answered, walking out of the room. Ryn took the binder off the tabletop and slipped it into one of the drawers before following Artemis out of the room.

The two teens walked down the hall in silence. Artemis's mind was racing, storing up all the information he had gotten about Ryn so far. There was something very suspicious about this girl.

His thoughts were interrupted however, when they started to walk down the stairs.

"My, my Artemis—I never thought you would be the type to keep two girlfriends!" Aidan called up, "you have changed since we were young."

"Don't be vulgar," Minerva said to the boy. Aidan, however, did not seem to hear the girl.

"Though I will say, the brunette you can ditch. She seems to lack charm," he continued. Ryn just continued to walk down the stairs—looking as though Aidan's words had no meaning to her, which in reality, they didn't.

"Ryn is not my girlfriend," Artemis said, "she is my new bodyguard"

"Ryn, huh?" Aidan asked, looking at the girl, "not your real name, I suppose"

Ryn looked at the boy were with impassive sapphire eyes, not bothering to acknowledge his words.

"And a mute as well, I see," Aidan sneered, "let me tell you, little missy, it would be in your best interests not to anger me."

"It doesn't matter at all what you do to me," Ryn said stiffly, "as long as you don't bother the client".

Artemis looked at the girl with raised eyebrows. _The client? _Is that what he was going to be known as from now on?

Aidan, however, just seemed satisfied that he girl to talk and backed off. Minerva stepped forward and looked at the girl.

"You do not look like the typical bodyguard," she said slowly, "your muscle ratio is not up to norm with that of a typical safety officer—and you do not seem to be carrying any weapons at the moment. Are you sure that you are properly qualified?"

"I prefer to conceal my weapons," Ryn said shortly, "and I studied under Madame Ko. She specifically asked me to take this job, so I would say that I am qualified"

"I meant no offense," Minerva said, taken aback by Ryn's abrupt answer, "I only worry for Artemis's safety"

"There was no offense taken," Ryn answered, looking down at the girl. Minerva nodded her head and turned towards Artemis She frowned slightly at him, expressing her feelings about his new bodyguard.

_Antisocial and mentally reclusive tendencies_, Minerva thought. _Usually that is the sign of a great impact or tragedy in a person's life. What had happened to this girl?_

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From up above, on the third story balcony, a figure looked down on the group of four teens with a creeping smile.

_Perfect, all four of them were together at last. Now the fun could really begin._

The figure moved slowly across the balcony, making to sure to be covered by the shadows.

Four teens—each one morally corrupt, each one responsible for engaging, living, in one of the deadly sins.

Artemis leaned against the banister of the stairwell. _Greed_. The boy was consumed with greed—consumed to the point where it was impossible to tear the boy's personality away from his need to gain.

Minerva waked towards Artemis slowly. _Pride_. The amount of pride in the girl was incredible. She was a vain creature—always priding herself on her looks, her brains, her wealth. She would slowly drown in her own pride eventually.

Aidan just stayed in his place, lazily observing his surroundings._ Sloth_. The boy had never worked a day in his life—instead, he just relied on his money and looks to provide him with everything he needed. He was lazy and indifferent—unwilling to act or care about anything.

Ryn turned instinctively towards Artemis, her eyes looked around, as though to spot put danger. _Wrath_. Oh, what a wrathful girl she was. Maybe it was justified, after everything that she had gone through and the even more horrific things that were yet to come. But still, the girl's wrath emanated from her like a black cloud, suffocating all those around her.

_Four teens—four sinful natures. Could they atone for them?_

"We will let the game decide," the figure whispered, smiling widely.

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Down below, the lights suddenly went off. Ryn slinked towards Artemis, a hand placed on the small of her back where she had concealed a handgun. Ryn preferred hand-to-hand combat, but now, in the darkness, she had no idea what to expect.

"Are the Fowls so poor that they cannot even afford to pay their electricity bills?" Aidan asked, indignantly.

"All of our bills are up to date," Artemis answered, looking around.

"That means that someone must have switched off the lights in the circuit box," Minerva said. She nervously clung on to Artemis's arm.

Suddenly Artemis's phone rang. He reached into his pocket. The four teens huddles around, the weak, eerie light from the phone screen lighting their faces.

"This is a new number," Artemis said, "and it is restricted, so it can't be traced".

Ryn grabbed the phone and opened it, placing it on speaker.

"Hello," she said.

"_Hello_," the person on the other side answered. The mysterious caller was using a voice masker, so their voice was completely unrecognizable.

"Are you the one who turned off the lights?" Minerva asked. The voice on the other side chuckled.

"_You seem frightened, Mistress Paradizo. If you think a little darkness is frightening, then you have no idea how terrifying the world you will soon enter will be_"

"Who are you?" Artemis asked, "and what do you want?"

"You are really quite daft if you are actually going to try and harm the Masters prize son," Aidan said with a snarl. Ryn placed her hand on his arm, signaling for him to stop.

"_I just want to play a little game_," the voice continued, "_play with me and I will help you atone for your sins and lead you to the truth. Go against me and I will make sure that whatever is precious to you is forever lost_"

"Don't be so bold," Ryn said quickly, "if you were a true villain you would come put here and put up a real fight. Enough with the smoke and mirrors"

"_The four of you look so innocent huddled over the phone like that_," the voice said happily, "_Artemis, look at how Minerva is clutching on to you. What would you do if someday she wasn't there to clutch on to you anymore_."

"You're in my house?" Artemis asked quickly, looking around—though it was useless in the darkness.

"_Yes, I am in your house. And in perfect shooting range. One false move and your girlfriend gets it—and not even your new bodyguard can save her_".

"We'll play," Ryn said quickly, "tell us what you want us to do."

"_First all players have to agree_," the voice said, "_and also agree that they will continue to play no matter how dark and horrible it gets_"

"I agree," Ryn said.

"I agree," Artemis added in, looking down at Minerva. The small girl nodded her head.

"I agree as well," she said. The three teens looked at Aidan.

"Why should I have to play this idiotic game?" the boy asked, "I am the Masters heir. Nobody tells me what to do!"

"_You returned to Ireland solely because your grandfather is on his deathbed_," the voice said, "_what if old grandfather's will were to mysteriously change and name a new heir to the Masters fortune. What would you do then?_"

"How... how did you know that? You cannot do that," Aidan said sounding choked.

"_I already said, I would make sure everything precious to you is lost forever_," the voice retorted. Aidan swallowed deeply. For the first time in his life, he was being forced into a position that he didn't like.

"Fine, I agree then" Aidan said finally.

"_Good. Then let the game begin…_"

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**A/N: Alright, how was it? Like I said, this story is a bit darker than the ones I usually write, but I always like trying new things and expanding my writing skills. **

**This first chapter might have been a bit confusing or a bit rushed since I had to introduce both OCs . If you have any questions, just send them to me-- or keep reading, everything will be explained in due time. **

**And please comment/review and tell me what you thought so that I can continue to improve the story! Thank you all so much! Gracias y besos. **


	2. The First Sin

**A/N: Here is the second chapter! I know it is still a lot of dialogue, but there is a bit more character development and plenty of mystery in this chapter, so I hope that you all enjoy it!**

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**Last One Standing**

The First Sin

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The lights turned back on and Ryn immediately left the huddle the four teens had been standing in. She scanned the room, taking note of everything there. She looked up and saw the balcony.

"He was there," she said quietly, "the third floor balcony"

"How in the world could you tell that?" Aidan asked, looking up at the balcony.

"He obviously wasn't in the parlor with us, we would have noticed," Artemis said, answering for the girl, his mind racing, "and he wouldn't risk being on the second floor. He would have a perfect angle on us from the third floor, and we wouldn't be able to see him".

Ryn nodded her head slightly, scanning the third floor balcony. Why had she not noticed it before? Wasn't that what bodyguards were supposed to do? Was she really fit to do this job?

"Hey woman! What are you standing there for?"

Ryn was pulled out of her thoughts by Aidan's cry. She looked at him, a single eyebrow raised.

"Aren't you a bodyguard?" Aidan scowled, "isn't it your job to go up there and investigate? What if the crazy person is still up there? We could all still be in danger! What kind of bodyguard are you? Lazy!"

"He has a point," Minerva said, "Whoever called Artemis is probably still up there."

Artemis turned towards Ryn, who was facing him. He knew that she was waiting for his orders. At least the girl had enough sense for that. Artemis nodded his head fractionally. Ryn immediately turned on her heels and made her way up the stairs without another word.

"How come that little fuzz-head listens to you but not to me?" Aidan asked, darkly.

"Is she your bodyguard or mine?" Artemis countered leaning against the wall. Aidan just scowled and looked up at Ryn as she calmly made her way down the hallway.

"Still, there is something strange about that girl. Why doesn't she ever talk? Is she some kind of mute? I would be careful around her, if I were you," Aidan sulked.

Artemis didn't bother to respond to the boy's angry squabbling. Aidan was just another pretty boy heir with a bad temper—and Ryn's problems were none of Aidan's business in the first place.

"Artemis,"

All three teens looked up to find Ryn looking down at them from the balcony. Her voice had been calm, but Artemis could see the odd look in the girl's eyes.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I think it would best if you came up here," she said. Minerva started to move up the stairs, but Artemis placed a hand on her arm. It was unlikely that whoever had called him had left the house already. Was Ryn leading them all into a trap?

Ryn saw the movement and breathed in. What was Artemis thinking? She wasn't the best of bodyguards, but she wasn't a murderer.

"I am not trying to harm you," she called down. After all, if she harmed Artemis and got kicked out of the Fowl Manor, where else could she go? There was nowhere else for her.

"I think she is telling the truth," Minerva whispered to Artemis, "recently I have been studying psychology. She isn't showing any of the physical ticks people normally have when they are lying".

"Alright, while you two pansies sit around and have deep philosophical discussions, I am going up to see what the action is all about," Aidan said, making his way up the stairs. Artemis shook his head in slight disbelief. Wasn't Aidan the one who just warned them to be careful around Ryn?

"Artemis, we should go too," Minerva said, "maybe the mysterious caller left something behind. After all, we apparently are playing a game now, aren't we? Clues are common in game play".

Artemis nodded his head and followed Aidan up the stairs. Minerva followed after. He looked down at the small, golden-headed girl at his side. When had she become so analytical? It wasn't a horrible change, but it was just different.

Quickly, the three teens made their way down the second floor hall to the stairs that would take them to the balcony. They all climbed the stairs and reached the balcony, finding Ryn standing near the stairs, looking at a wall that was semi-hidden in the shadows.

"What is it, Ryn?" Artemis asked. The girl merely raised a thin arm and pointed at the wall she was so intently scrutinizing. Artemis walked over and looked at the wall, eyes widening ever so slightly in surprise.

"Is… is that blood?" Aidan gasped, walking up to Aretemis and Ryn.

Written on the wall, in some sort of thick dark red liquid, was a very odd message.

"_Put a knife to your throat if you are given to…_" Artemis read aloud.

"Given to what?" Minerva asked from her perch near the stairs. Once Aidan had made his comment about blood, the girl refused to move forward. She might be a worldly genius, but just the thought of blood frightened her to no end.

"It doesn't say," Artemis said, looking down, mind racing. For some reason this phrase seemed exceedingly familiar.

"Do you think that maybe the man had to leave before finishing?" Aidan said, looking at the message.

"And there is still the question of how he left," Ryn added in.

"Oh look, the mute in finally talking," Aidan said with a hint of amusement. Artemis waved his hand at the boy, motioning for him to be quiet.

The girl had a point. Only somebody who knew the layout of the Fowl manor intimately well would be able to escape from the balcony before Ryn went up there. _What was happening here?_ Artemis looked up at Ryn.

"Do you know that this phrase means?" he asked her. Ryn looked at the boy, a bit surprised.

"Why would I know?" she asked. Artemis looked back down.

"I just think that it is a strange coincidence that this whole game thing started on the same day that you arrived here," he said. Ryn's mouth curved down a fraction.

"In case you forgot, I am a player of this game as well," she said, "I am as much in the dark as any of you are".

"What about you?" Artemis asked, looking up at Aidan. The boy just laughed at the question.

"Oh please, like I have time to go and write idiotic phrases on walls in blood," Aidan said. Artemis realized what a ridiculous accusation it had been in the first place. Aidan Masters was too lazy of a boy to ever play a game with them.

"This phrase does sound familiar," Minerva said, cocking her head and thinking hard. Artemis looked towards her. Both of them had read countless books and analyzed countless films. Of course the phrase would sound familiar to them, there probably wasn't a phrase out there that they weren't even slightly acquainted with.

Aidan walked over the message on the wall, looking at it critically.

"Are there any other clues?" Artemis asked, looking at Ryn, "maybe something else to help to help decipher the phrase".

"None," Ryn said quickly, " I did a thorough search of the balcony".

Artemis nodded and cast his eyes downwards once more. Ryn breathed in deeply and reached into her pocket, feeling the locket that she had slipped in there right before she had called Artemis to come up. It had been the locket that her father had given to her many years ago—and it had been placed on the floor right below where the message was written. _How did the mysterious caller get it_, Ryn wondered, _and why did he decide to leave it here now?_

She knew that she should probably show the locket to Artemis, but she couldn't bring herself to. It was too early to bring any mention of her family. No, this would remain her little secret for a while.

"This is definitely blood," Aidan said resolutely. Ryn and Artemis looked up at him. Minerva looked as though she was about to faint, backing away even more.

"I don't think it is human, though," Aidan continued. Artemis and Ryn both went up to the boy and looked at the message.

"It does have the same viscosity of drying blood, but it seems to clot easier than human blood," Artemis noted, turning towards Ryn, "what animal is it from?"

"How would I know that fact?" Ryn asked, looking at the message, "identifying blood is not a requirement for being a bodyguard".

"You don't know much, do you?" Aidan asked. Both teens ignored the boy's words.

"Butler would have known," Artemis stated simply. The girl looked up at him quickly.

"I already told you before that I'm not like him," she said.

"Alright, everybody—does it truly matter what type of blood is on the wall?" Minerva cried to them, "can we just leave the balcony? We can go the library—it will be easier to decipher the phrase there"

"That is true," Artemis said, troubled by the fact that he couldn't recall the phrase right away. He was a genius after all; this was supposed to be what he did.

"Lead the way, then," Aidan said, still looking at the message in interest. Ryn looked at Aidan with a bit of disgust. Was the boy enjoying himself? Whoever called might have called this a game—but it certainly wasn't meant for fun.

Slowly, all four teens left the balcony and made their way into Artemis' large personal library.

"Why waste so much effort getting all these books?" Aidan asked, looking around, "it is like you have every book ever written in here"

"That is impossible," Artemis said simply, heading for a section in the back. Everyone followed him.

"This is where I keep all of the classics," Artemis said, pointing to a very tall, very long bookshelf, "I am fairly sure that the phrase comes from one of these".

"Alright, so you have narrowed it down from a billion to about five hundred," Aidan said sarcastically, "that is wonderful".

"Do you have a way of narrowing the list any further?" Ryn asked. Minerva looked at the titles.

"A good number of these are foreign books," Minerva commented, "I am sure that the phrase on the wall came from a book written in English. But that is all I can recall at this moment".

"So basically, we have a bodyguard who can't catch a mastermind lurking around the house and two geniuses who can't even find a phrase from a book?' Aidan asked angrily, "what good is this team?"

"Aidan, I do not see you pulling any weight in this team. All you have done is stand and complain. We would be better off having a dog instead of you—at least a dog would shut up from time to time," Ryn said, her inner self showing a bit. Aidan gaped at the girl, aghast.

"Do you know who you just talked to like that?" he asked, voice strained, "do you have any idea who you just insulted?"

"Do you have any idea how much I don't care?" Ryn retorted, "I am a bodyguard— I have never even lived in Europe—so you precious Masters Financial Group has no effect on me"

"Like hell you haven't lived in Europe!" Aidan said, growing steadily angrier, "your voice has a clear Irish accent. I might not be a supposed genius like those two deadbeats over there, but I would be a retard if I didn't know an Irish accent when I hear one"

"That doesn't matter," Ryn said, her voice reserved and calm once more. She turned away from the boy and started to scan the books.

"Hey, woman, don't walk away. We were in the middle of a fight! Are you such a coward that you won't even finish what you started?" Aidan cried.

Ryn continued to scan the books, saying nothing. Aidan's fists clenched at his side.

"I am sick of this," he said ,breathing heavily, turning towards Artemis, "your bodyguard and this evil mastermind can both just go to hell for all I care"

"That's it!" Minerva cried, jumping up. All three teens turned and looked at her, confused.

Minerva ran over to the bookshelf and pushed Ryn out of the way. She started to scan the books until she pulled out a rather thick one with gold gilded letter on the front of it.

"The Bible?" Ryn asked, reading the cover. Artemis' eyes suddenly lit up.

"Proverbs 23:2" he said softly. Minerva nodded her head, flipping through the book.

"What?" Aidan asked, walking towards Minerva.

"Proverbs 23:2" Artemis said once again, "Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony"

"Aidan's hell comment sparked my memory," Minerva said, as she found the proverbs.

"Gluttony," Ryn whispered, "that was the word that he left off the message. But why?"

All of the sudden Minerva gasped. All three teens immediately looked down at her. She was staring at the Bible, a finger pointed to the page she was on. They all looked over to see what was so interesting. Ryn's eyes widened as they fell on the page.

Proverb 23:2 was underlined and there was an address scribbled in the margins next to it.

"2110 Old Havey Road. Cambridge, England" Minerva read aloud.

"Cambridge?" Aidan asked, "does the mastermind want us to go there?"

"What is in Cambridge?" Minerva asked, looking up at everybody. She saw Artemis, staring at the address, a scowl on his face, which was quite unusual for the normally impassive boy.

"Artemis?" Minerva asked, worried, "what is the matter?"

"That address," he said, pointing to the note, "that was were my father lived when he studied at Cambridge"

"What?" Aidan asked, "are you sure?"

"I am sure. That is where him and my mother met for the first time"

"Well does anybody live there now?" Ryn asked, looking up at her boss. Artemis's frown grew even deeper.

"My family still owns it," he said, "but nobody lives there now except for Miss Landerby"

"Miss who?" Aidan asked.

"Miss Landerby. She is the caretaker for the house, though she doesn't really do much caring." Artemis answered.

"Meaning?" Minerva prodded.

"Truthfully, Miss Landerby's only real passion lies in food. She isn't married, she had no children. She just stays in the Cambridge house all day and cooks and eats for herself. I told my parents to fire her, but they didn't have the heart to."

"Gluttony," Ryn whispered, looking up.

"What?" Aidan asked.

"The missing word from the message," Ryn explained, "gluttony. It is a vice that Miss Landerby obviously has"

"But what does it all mean?" Minerva asked, "Why does the mastermind care so much about gluttony and what does it have to do with the house that Artemis' parents met?"

"It means…" Artemis said slowly. All the teens turned to him.

"It means that we are going to Cambridge," Artemis said. "This man wants to challenge us? Then fine. We'll play along until we see what he wants".

"This could be dangerous," Aidan said, "and I cannot put myself in danger. I am the prize son of the Masters family, after all. They can't afford to loose me"

"Have you forgot what the mastermind said to you already?" Artemis asked, looking up at the boy, "he can take away your fortune—and after seeing what he has done already I don't really doubt his words"

Aidan fell silent and looked back down at the bible. Though he didn't want to take part of the mission, he was essentially being forced to. The Masters fortune was the only thing that Aidan really loved, and he would do whatever needed to be done to protect it, even if it meant following the whims of some deranged mastermind. He didn't like this—but he had no other choice.

Artemis looked at the address. He hadn't really cared about the game until that point—but now seeing the address scribbled in the margins of the Bible, he felt a little anxious. What did this game have to do with his parents? Was there some secret that they were hiding from him?

Minerva swallowed hard, looking up at Artemis. Though she was a genius, and though she had faced down fairies and daemons, she still couldn't help but feel worried about this whole thing. She had been quite ruthless in her youth, but she truthfully never liked violence or blood or anything too frightening. And this whole game was too frightening. But as Artemis' girlfriend, she had made a pact with herself that she would always help him whenever he needed it. And, in the given situation she couldn't leave him by himself on this one. Aidan was insane and she felt that there was still something odd about Ryn. Artemis needed her, and she couldn't say no.

Ryn sighed deeply, her hand once again slipping inside her pocket where she had placed the locket. If this mastermind knew anything about her parents or her family, then she was more than ready to do whatever he wanted. For the past two years, she had been training herself to be a calm, emotionless, and rational creature—but now with the emergence of this locket and the odd game that she had been thrust into—part of her old self was resurfacing. What did this mastermind know? She was determined to find out.

All four teens looked at each other and nodded. Though they were all completely different, from that moment on, they had formed a sort of motley team. None of them truly wanted to play the game—but they all had to, for their own reasons.

"I'll call to get my jet prepared," Aidan said, whipping out his hand phone.

"I will go call to tell Miss Landerby that we will be coming," Artemis said, taking out his own phone.

* * *

In Cambridge, Miss Landerby was waddling through the house, looking for a bowl she had misplaced earlier in the day.

"Where did that thing go to?" she asked herself, walking into the kitchen. She needed to make lunch for herself and she was too tired to wash the mountain of dishes that were in the sink.

Suddenly the phone rang. Sighing heavily, the woman stopped her search and walked towards kitchen phone. It took her a few rings to reach the phone, which was no surprise considering the size of her girth.

"Hello?" she said as she picked up.

"Miss Landerby" said the person on the other line. The voice sounded very formal, and was tinged with a very crisp Irish accent.

"Yes?" she asked, "who is this?"

"This is Artemis Fowl II. I am calling to say that three friends and myself will be arriving at the house today in the late afternoon. Please prepare for our arrival."

"Oh, Master Fowl. I was wondering when you were going to come here and pick up your package!" the caretaker said cheerfully.

"Package?" Artemis asked. His voice sounded extremely confused.

"Yes, a lovely man dropped off a package for you here about a month ago. I have been meaning to call you about it, but it always slipped my mind" she said cheerfully.

"Well keep it safely for me, then," Artemis said, "I will take it when I come there later today".

"Alright, young master. I will go prepare for your arrival right now," Miss Landerby said, warily eying the dishes. It seemed like she would have to wash them after all.

* * *

Artemis put down the phone and looked at the rest of the three people in the library.

"Alright, they are getting the jet ready right now," Aidan said, "it should be ready to go in about half an hour"

"That is good," Artemis said, placing his phone back in his pocket, the conversation he had just had playing in his mind.

_How long had this mastermind planned this game for? And most importantly, for what reason?_ Artemis knew that this trip to Cambridge would be very enlightening and anything from boring.

"Ryn I hope that you are better at your job than you have proven so far," he said, looking up at the girl. It seemed that this game would be quite dangerous indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, there it is. How was it? Hopefully it is not too confusing, but if it was-- worry not, all confusion will be cleared in future chapters! Please comment and tell me your thoughts on the chapter. Since I am trying out a new, darker style, your feedback means even more to me! Gracias y besos**

**And I must say, thank you everybody for your reviews! They were all very encouraging and the really spurred me to write this chapter faster. All of you guys are amazing!! **


	3. Gluttony: The Cambridge Group

**A/N: Here is the next chapter! I hope that you all enjoy this, because this is the most fun I have ever had writing s story. I love putting in little puzzles and scattering mysteries everywhere, and I hope that you have an equally fun time reading them. Enjoy!**

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**Last One Standing**

Gluttony: The Cambridge Group

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The four teens landed in Cambridge just as the sky was starting to turn the sickly pink color it always became before sundown. It cast a mysterious and weak glow on the cobbled streets that led to the elder Fowl's college residence.

"I really don't see why we are all playing this game when it only seems to involve your father," Aidan said, kicking the street as he walked. He frowned, looking down at his clothes. They had been tailored specifically for him—costing more than what most average citizens made in half a year. And all this physical activities they were doing were making them a bit wrinkled.

"I doesn't," Ryn said simply. The rest of the three teens looked up at her. Ryn kept her eyes straight ahead, her hand in her pocket—fingering the chain she had found.

"Whoever is behind this game knows what he is doing. There is a reason why he picked the four of us," she said. Nobody said anything at the girl's comment because they all saw the truth behind it. Whoever was playing with them knew exactly what they were doing.

"Here we are," Artemis said as they walked in front of a large house. The place wasn't as big as the Fowl manor in Ireland, but it was still surprisingly large for a single person's college residence—especially in Cambridge, where land was sparse. But then again, the Fowls were always known for their wealth.

"This is where your father lived when he was in university?" Aidan asked, looking at the house in distaste, "it looks likes a garden shed".

The rest of the teens ignored Aidan's statements and made their way to the front door. Artemis knocked on the door and waited for a about a minute. There was the sound of heavy footsteps and even heavier breathing on the other side of the door.

"It sounds like somebody is dying in there," Minerva said anxiously.

"That is just Miss Landerby," Artemis answered, sighing and leaning against the wall near the door.

"How can one woman make that much noise?" Aidan asked. Artemis just raised his eyebrows at the boy. Oh, he would see.

Suddenly the door was yanked open and the team of four was faced with one of the largest women that any of them had ever seen in their lives.

"Miss Landerby," Artemis said smoothly, nodding towards the woman.

"Artemis, you have finally came! Are these your friends, darling little children?" Miss Landerby said.

"I can see why the mastermind picked gluttony for this one," Aidan whispered to Ryn, who was standing next to him. Ryn just nodded her head slightly, still slightly taken aback by the size of the woman's girth. She seemed to weigh as much as a baby wale, and looked significantly like one as well.

"Come, come on in," Miss Landerby, ushering in all of the children into the house. All of them silently entered, looking around the residence. It was in a rather messy state, with food wrappers and plates littering the counters and tabletops.

"Sorry that I did not have time to clean up the house more," Miss Landerby said, "but you did come on a short notice. Here, let's all go to the main room, I'll brew us some tea".

"Artemis, why didn't your father just fire Miss Landerby?" Minerva asked as they all started to walk towards the main room, "after all, housekeepers are a dime a dozen and Miss Landerby obviously doesn't do her job very well"

"I don't know exactly," Artemis answered, "I asked my father that same thing once and he said that he could never replace Miss Landerby."

"That is some loyalty your father has to house staff," Aidan said, "is he like that for everyone?"

"No," Artemis replied simply. Ryn frowned at the boy's statement. If that was the case, what made Miss Landerby so important to Artemis's father?

The four teens reached the main room and looked around. The room was sparsely furnished, with nothing more than a bookshelf, two small couched near the fireplace, and a coffee table in front of the couches. On the wall there were a few pieces of art and a large, ornate clock that stood proudly over the large, stone fireplace.

Artemis walked slowly over and sat on one of the couched. Minerva immediately sat next to him. Ryn and Aidan took the other couch, and the four of them just sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Why did the mastermind lead us here?" Minerva finally said, breaking the tense silence, "there must be some sort of clue here that will lead us to whatever he wanted us to find"

"Or this whole thing could have just been set up by some crazy person who ad nothing better to do than send us on a wild goose chase across the world," Aidan said grumpily.

Miss Landerby wobbled in the room then, carrying a tray with four cups of tea and a small box.

"Alright, here is your tea," she said, happily, "and here is the package I told you about, Master Fowl".

"Package?" Ryn asked, looking up at Artemis. The boy took the box off the tray.

"When I called Mis Landerby she had told me that somebody had dropped off this package for me a month ago," he said.

"And why didn't you mention this before?" Ryn asked, her tone even.

"Fowl, if I had to kill a man right now, I would have your head in a second," Aidan said, "what the hell were you trying to prove, being so secretive?"

"It could be nothing," Artemis said, looking at the package.

"Oh, so do acquaintances usually send you mysterious packages to a residence where you never live?" Aidan asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"let's open it," Minerva said, waving away Aidan's comment. Artemis turned the box over, looking for a way to pry it open. Ryn sighed and grabbed the box from the boy. She lifted up one of her pant legs to reveal a long, razor sharp knife that was attached to a belt she kept ties around her calf. She took out the knife and opened the box in one, clean swipe. She then silently handed the box to Artemis as she resheathed her weapon.

"Well that was resourceful," Aidan said as he eagerly looked at the box. Artemis breathed deeply and looked inside. The package contained only two things. One was a picture and the other was a small silver box with a blood red ribbon tied on it. Artemis took out the box first. He untied the ribbon and opened it.

"What's in it?" Minerva asked as all four teens crowded around the box. From inside of it, Artemis took out what seemed to be a portion of a small painting. The portion depicted a baby, with what seemed to be it's mother's arm wrapped around it.

"It is a puzzle piece," Artemis said, observing the odd way that it was cut, "I think that we have to complete the puzzle to find the meaning behind this game"

"A baby?" Minerva asked, looking at the puzzle piece, "your theory makes sense, but what do any of us have to do with a baby?"

"Maybe that picture will help us understand," Ryn said, pointing to the photograph inside the box. Artemis picked it up gingerly and observed it.

The picture seemed to be taken in the very room that the four teens were sitting in at that moment. There was a beautiful young lady sitting on one of the couches, and four extremely handsome boys standing next to her, two on each side of the couch. All of them were wearing what looked like matching green smoking jackets.

"That… that is my father," Artemis said, pointing to the young man standing to the very right of the couch. The Artemis Fowl I in the picture looked as though he was about 19. He had floppy black hair, laughing blue eyes, and a bright smile on his face. Artemis had never seen his father as happy as he looked in this picture.

"And that is my father!" Aidan cried, pointing to a very angelic looking man with light brown hair who was standing on the left side of the couch.

"…and my father," Minerva gasped, as her eyes fell on the man next to Aidan's dad. And there indeed was a much younger looking Gaspard Paradizo, standing with his back leaned against the fire place, a cheeky grin on his face.

Artemis turned to the man next to his dad. He was a good looking boy with a chiseled face and a head of bright red hair. Artemis Fowl Sr.'s arm was thrown lazily over the other man's shoulder, and it was plain to see that the two were great friends.

"Ryn?" Artemis asked, looking up at his bodyguard. Ryn's sapphire eyes widened as she looked at the picture. A small hand slowly went up to it and she lightly touched the picture of the man that Artemis had just been observing.

"So it is your father," Artemis said, bringing the picture to him once more. So all of their fathers had known each other during their Cambridge years.

"And you said that this was all about Artemis' family," Minerva said to Aidan.

"So what, our fathers knew each other. Big deal!" Aidan snorted, "I don't see why the mastermind felt the need for us to come to Cambridge to find out that information."

"Because this is where it all started," Artemis said, looking around. Ryn looked up at him, eyebrows raised.

"Where what all started?" she asked.

"Whatever the person behind this game wants us to find. It all started here, when our fathers were at Cambridge," Artemis answered

"But who is that woman in the picture?" Minerva asked. All four looked back down at the portrait in Artemis' hand.

The lady sitting on the couch was probably the most beautiful woman Artemis had ever seen in his life. She was a tiny thing, with deep, rich brown curls that reached her mid back. Every one of her features were absolutely perfect; from her delicate nose to her large, hazel eyes, and even her full lips, which were curved into a mischievous little smile.

"She isn't one of your mothers, is she?" Artemis asked, looking up at the other three. All of them shook their heads.

"Though it would be nice to have such a pretty mother," Minerva said, looking back down at the picture.

"So if she isn't related to us in anyway, why is she there?" Aidan asked.

"She is obviously related to our fathers in some way," Ryn said, "judging by their matching jackets, I would say that they were part of the same club"

"My father didn't mention anything about being in a club while he was at University," Minerva said.

"Besides," Artemis said slowly, "it doesn't seem as though any of them had shared interests or goals. My father is a businessman who used to be heavily connected to underground markets; Minerva's father is a plastic surgeon; Aidan's father is the head of the largest financial group in the known world; and Ryn's father…."

All three teens looked at her, as though her father held the key to this whole mystery.

"Architect," Ryn said quietly. They turned back to the picture.

"All those professions really do have no connection," Aidan said. Artemis suddenly looked up and called out Miss Landerby.

The large lady entered into the room slowly. Artemis raised the picture up to show her.

"Miss Landerby, we were wondering what you could tell us about this photograph," Artemis said. The housekeeper's eyes fell on the picture and she let out a loud gasp.

"Where did you get that from?" she asked quickly. Artemis raised a single eyebrow, a little surprised by the lady's reaction.

"I found it," Artemis replied, calmly. "We recognize our fathers in here, but the identity of the lady remains a mystery to us"

"Your fathers?" Miss Landerby asked, "all of your fathers are in this picture?"

"We already said that," Aidan said harshly, "are you going to tell us who the lady is or not?"

"I have no idea who the young mistress in the picture is," Miss Landerby said quickly. Artemis, Ryn, and Minerva all looked at each other, thoroughly unconvinced with the woman's words. Aidan, who lacked the tact of the rest of the three, groaned loudly.

"Don't lie to us, you useless woman!" he growled, looking the housekeeper straight in the eye.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, young master. I am not lying," Miss Landerby said, smiling. Aidan walked up to her menacingly.

"It would be in your best interest not to lie to the heir of the Masters family," he said icily, "or else I will make sure that you choke on your own fat and die". Miss Landerby gasped, her hands hands flying to her throat. Ryn sighed slightly and walked towards Aidan. She wrapped her arms around the boy and dragged him away from the housekeeper.

"What in the…get your filthy hands off of me, you madwoman!" Aidan cried. Ryn let go of the boy and spun him around, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"Listen," she whispered to him, "I know that you were raised to have absolutely no sense of tact or normal human mannerisms—but threatening our only source of information is not the best course of action right now"

Aidan exhaled deeply and pushed Ryn's hands off of his collar without a word. Minerva looked on the scene, both eyebrows raised high. It seemed as though Ryn had managed to silence Aidan—a feat that the small genius was sure had never been done before.

"No," Artemis whispered. The three teens turned to him.

"Ryn is wrong. Miss Landerby is not the only source of information that we have."

"Who else is there?" Ryn asked.

"There is somebody who has been in our family since I was born, someone who's relatives worked for my father," Artemis said. Ryn and Aidan looked at the boy blankly, but a wide smile started to spread on Minerva's face.

"Butler," she whispered lightly.

* * *

By the time that the teens had flown out of Cambridge and had made their way to Butler's house, it was about four in the morning. They all stood outside of Butler's shack, shivering in the strong sea breezes that were rolling in, cutting through the inky morning darkness like knives.

Artemis raised a fist and pounded on the shack door. They all waited for about five seconds before the door was opened by a giant man.

"Butler, we have a question for you," Artemis said. The burly man rubbed his eyes and stepped aside, letting all four teens walk into his shack.

"I assume all of you know what time it is," Butler said warily.

"We do, and we are sorry for intruding at this time," Artemis said stiffly. The large man just shook his head.

"Who are you trying to be formal for, Artemis?" he asked, looking down at the group.

"Moved on to bigger crowds, have we?" Butler asked as his eyes feel on Aidan.

"Hardly," Artemis answered, sitting down in one of the chairs in Butler's main room. Minerva and Aidan followed suit, while Ryn stood over the group, looking down at them as a protective mother lion would. Butler's eyes locked in with hers and the man frowned slightly.

"I have never seen this girl before," he said, turning towards Artemis.

"This is Ryn, my new bodyguard," Artemis answered, "Madam Ko sent her this morning"

Butler looked back at the girl with a new light in his eyes.

"You trained with Madam Ko," he said lightly, "where?"

"Nepal," Ryn answered, her face remaining stoic, "I only trained with her for two years"

"is that really enough time to become a proper bodyguard?" Aidan asked. Butler shrugged his large shoulders.

"Everyone progresses at different rates," he said. Artemis just waved the man's words away.

"Enough with this," the boy said, "we have something to ask you, Butler"

"I was wondering what the purpose of this early morning visit was," Butler said, turning towards his old charge. Artemis produced the picture from his jacket pocket and handed it over to Butler.

The old bodyguard looked at the picture and a surprised expression crossed his face.

"Now this is a group I have not seen in a while," Butler whispered.

"Those are our fathers," Artemis said. Butler looked up at him.

"All of your fathers?" he asked, pointing to the man with red hair, "even his?"

"Mine," Ryn said softly, "he is my father". Butler turned to her, nodding slightly.

"And I thought I would never get to see all of their children together," Butler said, looking back down at the picture.

"What… what were they?" Minerva asked, "were our fathers part of some secret organization?"

"It was hardly a secret," Butler said, "anybody who was at Cambridge at the same time as your fathers would have known about them"

"What do you mean?" Aidan asked, "where our fathers famous?"

'They were the elite," Butler answered, "the four best looking, most intelligent boys at Cambridge—all coming from extremely wealthy families. They met on the first day of classes and immediately became best friends. The other Cambridge students idolized them; they essentially had the whole University at their beck and call"

"The Masters name naturally has that effect," Aidan said haughtily, "I am sure that the other three men just rode on the coattails of my father"

"Actually, it was Artemis' father who was the leader of this little group," Butler said, "since he had dealing with the underground markets, it made him a shrewd and cunning leader".

"That is all fine," Minerva said, "I would assume that our fathers would be popular at University. But who is that lady with the group?"

Butler's expression softened when he looked at the woman in the picture.

"That lady," Butler said, "is Cerrith Marshall"

The four teens looked at him blankly. Was just that name supposed to mean something to them?

"Was she rich and smart like the rest of them?" Aidan asked. Butler shook his head.

"She was a sharp girl," the man said, "but she was from a very low class family. Her parents owned a dry cleaning shop in Bath and she was at Cambridge on a scholarship."

"Why in the world would my father associate with a scholarship student?" Aidan asked, "he was the Masters heir at that time, after all."

"From the stories that my uncle told me of her, Cerrith was the most charming girl that one could fine," Butler said.

"Charming or not, how did she end up being in the same elite group as our fathers?" Ryn asked. Butler smiled at her.

"Because," he said lightly, "one of the group members was obsessively in love with her"

"Which one?" Minerva asked.

"Samuel Rynnon" Butler answered. All heads turned towards Ryn. The name was not familiar to any of them, so they assumed that it belonged to her father.

"I thought that you said she wasn't your mother," Aidan said to the girl. Ryn shook her head.

"My father was from a very prominent family," she said, "he wouldn't be able to marry the daughter of a dry cleaner, no matter how much he was in love with her"

"Exactly," Butler said, "all four of the men knew that Samuel would never be with Cerrith, so they invited her to be part of their group instead. It was the closest that the man could get to her."

"Where does she live now?" Artemis asked, looking up. It seemed that this mysterious Cerrith person could be the answer to whatever mystery that the mastermind wanted them to solve. Butler looked down at the picture with a sad smile.

"She is long gone," the man said, "died in childbirth many years back"

"In childbirth?" Aidan scoffed, "what century are we living in?"

"If she is dead, then what is this game about?" Artemis asked.

Then suddenly, Artemis's cell phone sounded. He took it out of his pocket.

"What is it?' Minerva asked. The boy flipped open his phone.

"Somebody sent me an email," he said, opening the message, "it is from an unknown number"

"That mastermind," Ryn whispered, drawing near the boy, "what does the message say?"

"Look in the room next to you," Artemis read out loud.

"The room next to us?" Butler asked, "but that is only the bathroom. Why would somebody want you to look in there?"

The four teens immediately went into the bathroom without another word. Minerva switched on the bathroom light and gasped.

On the mirror above the sink, written in what seemed to be red lipstick was a message.

"_5112 North Street, Washington D.C_" Aidan read, "_A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones_"

"Another proverb," Minerva said, shaking her head. What did this all mean?

"Envy," Artemis said, "I think we just found out next sin"

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**A/N: Okay, so what did you think of this chapter? I hope that you all enjoyed-- the plot will just thicken and become ore intense from here on out! I hope to hear all of your thoughts on the story, please review or send me a message and tell me any comments, complaints, or ideas. I appreciate them all! Gracias y besos!! **


	4. Envy: The seed is planted

**A/N: Here is the next chapter! I must say, this story is getting progressively more fun to write! In this chapter, I added in a bit of humor in the beginning, just to distract from the darker tones for a bit. But worry not, the chapter is still full of lovely mystery. Hope you enjoy!**

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**Last One Standing**

Envy: The seed is planted

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The group decided to rest for a while at Butler's house before making their way to DC. They were all exhausted and none of them knew what was in store for them when they reached the states.

Artemis sat up in the makeshift bed that Ryn had fashioned for him out of Butler's old coats. He knew that his family had always been involved in less that credible businesses, but they had never kept secrets from each other. The Fowls lied and cheated strangers, but never kin—or at least that is what the boy had thought. But now, there seemed to be something large going on, and his father seemed to be in the middle of it all.

"Still not asleep?"

Artemis turned his head and saw Ryn standing in the doorway of the room. Her short, choppy brown hair had been tied back into two lop sided ponytails and her fringe fell erratically over her forehead.

"It is a little hard to fall asleep when you are on the verge of finding out a secret." Artemis said, looking down at the picture that he had propped next to his bed.

"We have no control over any of this," Ryn said darkly, "we will find out the secret when the mastermind wants us to find out the secret".

"I always thought that my family didn't keep secrets," Artemis whispered. Ryn looked at the picture and felt a familiar pang in her heart when her eyes fell upon the image of her young father.

"As did I," she whispered.

Her mind wandered to three years back, when everything had been normal. S_he had been lounging on her favorite couch on the upper balcony, basking in the warm midday sunlight. Her brother, Micah was sitting next to her, his head buried in a book, as always._

_"Do you know Ru Xi from second year?" Ryn asked, turning towards her brother. The boy looked up and brushed a strand of light brown hair out of his sparkling eyes._

_"What about her?" he asked. Ryn leaned in closer to him._

_"I heard that her mother caught her father having an affair. It is a huge scandal, especially since her father is a big lawyer!"_

_"That is too bad," Micah said, leaning back on the couch._

_"Don't you feel lucky that we don't have any secrets like that in our family?" Ryn asked, looking past the balcony at the majestic mountains in the distance._

_"Every family has their secrets," Micah answered darkly, his normally jovial face turning serious._

"Ryn?"

The girl was pulled out of her thoughts by Artemis' voice. She turned and found the boy looking at her, a confused expression on his face.

"Is something the matter?" Artemis asked. Ryn shook her head.

"I was just thinking," she said simply, "you should get some rest, we will be leaving in a few hours"

And with that she turned around and walked out of the room. Artemis watched the girl's retreating back, wondering what was going on with her. The boy felt that as much as his father had to do with his secret, Ryn's father was equally involved. Judging from the picture, both of their fathers seemed to be best friends.

"It's like Ryn said," Artemis whispered to himself, "the secret will be reveled when the mastermind wants to reveal it." It was best to just take everything one step at a time. And with that thought in his head, the boy drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The four teens boarded Aidan's plane a few hours later. It was just getting to be noon, and the sun was shining brightly. The weather was so beautiful, that the group couldn't help but feel a little more cheerful about what was lying in front of them.

Aidan boarded the plane first, followed by Minerva, Ryn, and finally Artemis.

"Butler, thank you for you information," Artemis said as he made his way up the steps into the plane. The large man clasped the young boy on the shoulder.

"Artemis, be careful," he said, "I don't know quite what the four of you are doing; but whoever you are chasing managed to sneak into my house without me noticing them. They are much stronger than you expect".

Artemis nodded his head and boarded the plane. He already knew that mastermind was dangerous, not because of sneaking ability, but of his knowledge of every intimate detail of the four teens' lives.

"Ah! My clothes came," Aidan cried as Artemis walked into the main cabin of the plain. The boy was pouring over a large suitcase, filled with all sorts of garments.

"What have you done now?" Artemis asked with a sigh, as he sat in one of the seats.

"I called my butler and told him to send down a few of my clothes immediately," Aidan said, "after all, how can the Masters heir be seen wearing the same clothes for more than a day? I have a reputation to keep up, all of Europe depends on me"

Artemis just sighed at the boy's vanity. Using the Masters name to justify frivolous actions was nothing new for Aidan.

Aidan quickly changed his clothes and the plane took off, on route to DC. The flight was much longer than their pervious one, and after about an hour of tense silence, Minerva decided to break the awkward atmosphere with conversation. After all, it was important that the group got to know each other, as they all had been forcibly banded together.

"Aidan, I heard that two years ago you started a band," she said lightly, hoping to evoke the boy's love of talking about himself. And just as she predicted, a wide smile spread on the boy's face and his eyes lit up.

"That's true," he said, "I was living in Japan at the time. A famous Japanese pop singer, Masi Kato, was in the same school as I was, so we decided to try our hand at starting a band".

"What happened?" Artemis asked, "you obviously are not some sort of famous rock star right now"

"We had a rather large support group, but after a while I got bored," Aidan said simply.

"Bored?" Minerva asked. The boy nodded his head.

"Traveling was exhausting and too much work, and my band mates were so dull. The worst was our Korea tour. We had to stay there for about a month, and I thought I was about to die. But that is where I earned my nickname," Aidan said with a wicked smile.

"Your nickname?" Minerva asked.

"The writing Master," Aidan said.

"And pray tell how you came upon that," Ryn asked, surprising everybody by actually talking, "you don't seem much like an author".

"Well, do you know fanfiction?" Aidan asked. The three teens nodded.

"I wrote a fanfiction story about our band" Aidan continued, "in the story Masi was a fan that was obsessively in love with me and kept sending me all sorts of gifts. But I was a famous singer and couldn't accept his feelings. But he loved me so much that he dug a hole tens of meters deep to keep me in there…"

"Wait, don't fans usually write these stories?" Minerva asked, "you wrote a fanfiction about youself?"

"Well, I had nothing else to do…" Aidan said.

"You must have been extremely bored," Artemis quipped. Aidan nodded his head.

"And that wasn't all I did," he said, "I used to write reply letters to Masi on my own, saying things like 'I received your message and your presents. I know the love in your heart, but I cannot accept it'. I would slip them into his bag when he wasn't looking. Then later on the staff would find the letters in Masi's bag. All the Korean staff really thought that Masi was madly in love with me"

Minerva couldn't help but smile at the boy's impishness.

"You're a bit strange," Ryn said to the boy, shaking her head. Aidan just shrugged. It was plain to see that the boy had led such a carefree, roguish life since he was born. After all, he had his looks, his fortune, and his family name to shield him from everything.

"What about you?" Aidan asked the uptight bodyguard, "you said that you only started training with Madam Ko two years ago. What did you do before that?"

"A bodyguard is not supposed to divulge personal information," Ryn said stiffly, "we need to avoid unnecessary attachments"

"Oh please, we are all in this game together, your past is going to have to come out some time," Aidan cried.

"Then it will when the time comes," Ryn said, turning her head and looking out the window. Aidan was about to argue back, but Artemis placed a warning hand on the boy's arm.

"This isn't your battle to fight," Artemis whispered to the boy, "and it shouldn't be any of your business".

"Just because she is your bodyguard doesn't mean that you some type of exclusive right over her," Aidan whispered back, furiously. Artemis just raised a single eyebrow at the boy,

"Ryn is my employee," Artemis answered, "if you wanted these so called 'exclusive rights' then you should have hired her yourself"

Aidan just glared at the boy and turned away. Who was Artemis Fowl to tell him who he could and couldn't have? His eyes strayed towards Ryn. The lithe bodyguard was sitting in her seat, her long legs tucked under her. Her messy, chocolate hair was sticking in odd angles off the top of her head and her sapphire eyes were gazing aimlessly out the plane window.

_There is nothing special about that freaky girl_, Aidan thought, turning his head away from her. He should be able to question her all he wanted.

The rest of the plane ride passed by in relative silence. Aidan was still brooding, Ryn was as oddly quiet as ever, and Minerva and Artemis were whispering over some book or another that they were both reading.

When the plane finally landed, all four teens exited to find a long, dark green car with tinted windows greeting them.

"Did the mastermind plan for this as well?" Minerva asked, looking at the car.

"The mastermind?" Aidan said, walking up to the car and fixing his platinum hair in the review mirror, "this car costs more than what most average people make in five years. Would the mastermind be able to afford such a thing?"

"You called this car then?" Ryn asked the boy. Aidan stood up and looked at her.

"I just got this jacket and am very partial to it. I wanted something that would match it," he said, straightening out the winter green garment that he was wearing. Ryn just shook her head, amazed by the boy's excess.

"You called this car just to match your jacket? How exaggerated!" Minerva asked, vocally stating the sentiments Ryn felt.

Aidan just shrugged his shoulders and entered the car. When people got to be as rich as him, nothing ever seemed exaggerated. It was just simply his lifestyle.

"Come on," Artemis said, motioning for the girls to follow Aidan and get inside of the car, "the boy is insane, we might as well just get used to it."

Minerva nodded her head and slipped into the backseat. Ryn just started to circle the vehicle, checking out every detail. Aidan rolled down the front window.

"Hey!" he cried, sticking his head out of the car, "sorry to interrupt your weird circling trance, but don't you think we should go?"

"I am checking to make sure that the car is safe," Ryn said calmly, "the mastermind seems to know our every move and every detail about us, who knows if he could have rigged the car"

"Then why didn't you check it before I got in?" Aidan cried. Ryn looked up at him.

"Because I don't care about what happens to you," she said bluntly before turning to Artemis. She gave the young genius a slight nod and he entered the car. Ryn slid in the seat after him.

"You know if I die then we won't have any more transportation," Aidan said to Ryn as she got into the car. The bodyguard could tell that the boy was livid over her comment.

"Yes," Minerva said, "because Artemis and I are so poor that we cannot afford any sort of transportation"

Artemis' mouth curled up into a half smile at his girlfriend's comment and he looked up at Aidan, a single eyebrow raised. The boy just huffed and turned back to face the front. He yanked down the car mirror and checked his angelic features. Looking at himself always made Aidan feel a bit better. He was incredibly handsome and incredibly rich, why should he care about anything the rest of the group members said?

Artemis passed a slip of paper up to the car driver.

"I have written the address down on here," Artemis said, "just take us there". The driver looked at the slip and nodded.

"Going to visit some well off friends, are we?" she asked conversationally as the car started to lurch forward.

"Pardon?" Minerva asked. The driver nodded at the slip of paper.

"That address is in a very expensive part of DC," she said, "whoever you are visiting is obviously rich"

"Well of course," Aidan said lightly, "what else would you expect from me? Now keep your eyes on the road. I pay you to drive, not to talk".

The driver sobered immediately and stared straight ahead. Aidan looked out the car window, a worried expression crossing his angelic face. What was address going to lead them to now? Was it another old residence owned by one of their fathers? But if it was, why would it be in DC? Both his and Artemis' families worked out of Ireland, and Minerva was from France. The boy's eyes looked in the review mirror, where Ryn's face was clearly reflected. Was she the key to this leg of the mystery? She had an Irish accent, but before she had admitted to never living in Europe before.

"Ryn," Aidan said slowly, "did you live in DC before you came to Ireland?". The bodyguard carefully lifted her head and fixed her sapphire eyes on him.

"No," she said simply. Aidan, who was seasoned in spotting liars, knew that the girl wasn't bluffing him in this regard. Ryn ran her finger over the soft leather of her seat. What was this mystery going to be about? While as the rest of the teens in the car felt anticipation and fear, Ryn only felt a sense of excitement. It wasn't that she was some sort of adventure seeking girl—but she relished attaining any information about her father. It would just help with her case…

The car ride, just like the plane ride, was spent in awkward silence. Each team member was anticipating what would lie in store for them. Would they find another house, a person, maybe they would even stumble over some sort of huge government secret. They were in DC after all.

Finally the car pulled up in front of a building.

"Alright, here we are," the driver announced. Artemis looked out of the window and frowned.

"Are you sure that you got the address right? I think you might have been mistaken" he said.

The driver refrained from sighing. All these rich, spoiled kids, thinking that they knew more than everybody else.

"I have been driving in DC for the past 15 years," she said, "I am positive that I have the right address"

"This can't be right…" Aidan said, also looking out the window.

"Sir," the driver said, her voice edged with a mix of annoyance and frustration, "are you sure that you copied down the address right? Because this is most certainly what was written down on the paper".

"Are you accusing us of being incompetent?" Minerva demanded, "why wouldn't we be able to copy down an address right?"

"We are both right," Ryn said quickly, opening the door. She grabbed Artemis by his collar and physically dragged him out of the car. Minerva followed the boy and reluctantly, Aidan also exited the car.

"Thank you for your service," Ryn said to the driver. The driver just nodded and drove away. As soon as the car was out of sight, Ryn turned to the group of teens, her eyes flashing.

"What were you all trying to do, picking a fight with the driver?" she asked, "useless, every one of you lot".

The rest of the three just stood where they were, shocked by the girl's sudden outburst. Not only had she spoken in an actual full sentence, she had just scolded them.

"That was very uncharacteristic of you," Artemis said to his bodyguard. Ryn just shook her head. Her outburst was very characteristic of her; the stony silence that they were used to was the furthest away from the real Ryn that there could be.

"Forget about that," Ryn said quietly, "we should be more concerned about where we are".

The group turned around and faced the building that they had been dropped in front of. It was a nondescript office building, plain and common with its grey walls and uniformly spaced windows.

"Why would the mastermind lead us to such a boring office building?" Aidan asked, "is this supposed to be some type of joke?"

"The mastermind wouldn't play jokes on us," Minerva said, "he has always had a reason for everything".

"Right," Artemis said, "we should go inside and see what there is there."

The group walked up the building, which got progressively less impressive the closer they got. Aidan noticed in distaste that the paint from the exterior of the building was peeling a little and that the windows looked as though they hadn't been washed in years. He quickly scanned the parameters of the building before entering. The last thing he needed was the paparazzi catching him going into such a shady looking place.

A bone-chilling cold hit the group with full force as they stepped inside the building.

"This place is like a freezer," Aidan said, looking around the lobby. The room was painted white and was completely empty besides a single white desk that stood at the far end of the room. On the desk was a single green apple, the only source of color in the whole room. The effect was quite chilling, though strangely impressive.

Slowly, the four teens walked up the desk and stood in front of it.

"Hello?" Minerva said. Suddenly there was a movement behind the desk. The group leaned in and saw, in surprise, that the wall behind the desk was not a wall at all—but rather a large, white curtain. From behind the curtain a man in an all white suit emerged.

"Do you have any business here?" he asked the group, eying them warily.

"More important than that," Aidan said, "why is this place so infernally cold? Don't you know what a heater is?"

"This is a software company," the man said, "we have to keep the rooms at a certain temperature in order to ensure maximum potential"

"A software company?" Minerva asked, drawing her eyebrow together in concentration. _What did a software company have to do with any of them?_

"All of you look too young to have anything to do with Marshall labs," the man said suspiciously, "what are you doing here?"

"Marshall labs?" Ryn whispered, turning to Aidan who was standing right next to her, "that was the last name of the lady in the picture. Cerrith Marshall"

Aidan's eyes widened and he turned towards the man in the suit.

"Listen here," the boy said smoothly, "my name is Aidan Masters, and I am here with my friend Artemis Fowl. I am sure that you have heard of our families. We are always looking for new business"

"Ah, so you are the group that I was supposed to be expecting," the man said, looking a little reviled.

"Excuse me?" Artemis asked.

"I received a call yesterday saying that a group of four was supposed to come here to collect all of Miss Marshall's personal belongings from her apartment," the man said, opening the desk drawer and drawing out a thin key. He held it out and Artemis took it.

"The elevator is here," the man said, opening the curtain a little to expose a silver door, "Miss Marshall's apartment is on the top floor, a I am sure that you know".

"Of course," Aidan said, "we have been meaning to come and collect her things, but we just haven't gotten around to it".

"Oh, are you her son, then?" the man asked. Aidan just raised a single eyebrow at him.

"It is just that the last time I saw Miss Marshall, she had left to the hospital to give birth to her child. She never returned back here, and I always assumed that she had moved back to England with her child," the man continued quickly.

_She didn't return because she died in childbirth_, Ryn thought darkly as the man hurried them to the elevator. Ryn looked at him with raised eyebrows. He sure was trying to get rid of them fast. _Why was he so eager for them to collect Cerrith's things?_

"I already placed boxes in the front lobby of her apartment," the man said, "you can collect her things and leave afterwords, I will not bother you further"

Ryn opened her mouth to question the man, but the elevator doors closed quickly in front the group.

"He was acting very oddly," Ryn said to the rest, "as though he was afraid of us"

"Maybe this Cerrith was a scary lady," Aidan said as the elevator whirled up, "and beside, what normal person would live in the building of the company they owned?"

"Rent in this area is expensive," Minerva said, "and Butler had said that Cerrith was never rich"

The doors opened to reveal a large, grand marble parlor, complete with a golden water fountain in the middle.

"Never rich, huh?" Aidan asked as they stepped out into the parlor. Ryn started to look around. The parlor really didn't contain much except for the fountain, a door behind it, and a small shoe rack that contained two pairs of slippers, both in different sizes.

_If Cerrith was the only one to live here, why would there be two different pairs of slippers_, Ryn wondered. The man downstairs had mentioned nothing about her living with a husband.

"Everybody, look," Minerva's voice cried out. The all immediately went over to the door, where she was standing. Written on the white marble floors in some type of red marker was a message in the mastermind's handwriting.

_"Welcome Home"_

_

* * *

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**A/N: Alright, so what did you all think? Like I said before, this story has been one that I have been planning for quite a long time, and it has been more fun to write than I expected. As always, I would appreciate any comments that you guy smay have. They are always so helpful and I appreciate every one of them! Gracias y besos!! **


	5. Envy: A Hunt and a Clue

**A/N: Hello everybody! Sorry that I didn't update this quickly, it is just that Spring Break is not very conducive to a strict writing schedule. Plus, this was the first spring break that I actually spent in the States. And for some reason doing everything here seemed much more tiring that our spring breaks in Taiwan. But I am back at university and my writing schedule seems a bit more on track, so I will update more regularly now. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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**Last One Standing**

**Envy: A Hunt and a Clue**

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* * *

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"Welcome home," Artemis whispered, reading the words aloud.

"Home?" Aidan asked, confused, "but none of us have ever been here before, how could it be home?"

"Maybe there is some other hidden meaning in this message," Minerva said, "though the phrase is much too generic to be an another illusion to literature".

"I suppose the only way we can figure it out is to go inside and see what's in there," Artemis answered back, looking at Ryn. The lithe girl just nodded her at him and cautiously opened the door, one hand brushing lightly across the gun she had stowed on the small of her back.

"The guy downstairs said that nobody lived up here, what are you so nervous about?" Aidan demanded.

"The mastermind could have planted anything in here," Ryn answered, peeking her head in the doorway. The room was completely dark, but it was obvious that it was unoccupied. There wasn't any movement or sounds of breathing coming from inside. Ryn groped the wall with her long fingers until she felt a light switch. She quickly turned it on and the room was suddenly filed with a warm, rosy light.

"It's okay," Ryn called out to the rest of the teens, who were anxiously waiting out in the foyer. Adrian pushed the slight girl to the side and entered the room, looking around quickly.

"Just what I thought," he said, nodding his head.

"What are you talking about?" Minerva asked, also entering the room.

"This place has no resemblance to any of the Masters homes," Adrian said, turning back to the group, "so the message couldn't have been referring to me".

"I doubt this place resembles any of our homes," Artemis said blankly, looking around the room. It was a nice enough place, with a soaring ceiling, marble floors, and tasteful furniture. There was even a large French door that led out onto a spacious balcony with a breathtaking view of the monuments. Any normal person would have considered it an extraordinary place, but Artemis had a sense that all four of the teens in the room had grown up in homes far superior to this one.

"Then what could that message have meant?" Aidan asked, sulkily. Ryn turned away from the boy and started to examine the room. Her years with Madame Ko had resulted in the development of a pair of sharp eyes—after all, it was a skill that was a necessity for any bodyguard, no matter how bad they might be at their job.

The main room, though containing hard, cold marble floors and stark white walls did seem to have a strange, homey feeling to it. Each piece of furniture or decoration in the room seemed to have been painstakingly picked and placed to give the place a rather welcoming overall appearance. Slowly, Ryn moved over to the fireplace, looking at the pictures on the mantle. There were about six in all, all depicting a beautiful, smiling Cerrith. Ryn noted that at least one of the group members' fathers were in the pictures. She felt a familiar tug at her heart when she saw the jovial, freckled face of her father smiling up at her from the picture in the center of the mantle.

"They all visited her here," Ryn said, eyes never leaving the pictures. The rest of the group gathered around her and looked at the photographs as well.

"It seems as though they were all extremely close," Minerva said, frowning slightly. Artemis noticed the girl's frown and shot her a questioning look.

"I was just wondering," Minerva said slowly, "why my father never mentions anybody from his college days. Our fathers and Cerrith were all obviously very good friends, so it seems weird to me that he doesn't keep in contact with anybody".

"That is true," Aidan said, "our house in Ireland is right next to Artemis', yet our father never get together and meet. I didn't even think they knew each other".

"Maybe it had something to do with Cerrith's death," Artemis said, looking at the picture that showed the lady and his father. Cerrith was already noticeably pregnant in the photo, and she was sitting on the steps of the Lincoln monument with his father, both of them wearing large, almost goofy, smiles.

"But…Butler said that she dies in childbirth," Minerva said slowly, "it's tragic, but not mysterious".

"Maybe she didn't die in childbirth, then," Artemis said, "maybe she was killed by someone". Ryn let out a loud huff, startling the rest of the teens.

"You can't just go and call this a murder," the bodyguard cried, "you have absolutely no evidence proving that fact so stop making such baseless assumptions!"

The three teens looked at Ryn, absolutely taken aback by the naturally silent girl's outburst. It seemed as though Artemis had hit a nerve with her somehow.

"It is just a theory," Artemis said, "something large had to have happened for all of our fathers not to talk to one another anymore".

"Maybe we should do a thorough search of the house to see if we can find anything," Minerva said quickly, steering Artemis away before he went off spouting more things about murder. It was obvious that the topic was a sore one with Ryn and Artemis, though he was a genius, had never been know for his skills in tact. The last thing that the group needed at that moment was a full our sparring match between Ryn and Artemis. Minerva turned towards Aidan.

"Aidan, you take Ryn and see if you can find anything of use in the office over there. Artemis and I will look in the rooms in that hallway over there," she said. Aidan flashed her a furious look. The last thing the boy wanted to do was be stuck dealing with the oddball bodyguard. But Minerva countered with her own glare and the boy finally backed down. Artemis looked on the scene in interest. Minerva really had changed in the time that he had been away. Gone was the irrational little girl and in her place was a fairly diplomatic and calm young woman.

"Let's go," Aidan huffed, grabbing Ryn by her arm and dragging her towards the office. The bodyguard went without a protest, still processing Artemis' words. _Why was the boy so quick to assume murder? Didn't he know how much trouble such assumptions could make?_

"Hey! Idiot monkey girl, can't you do your job for once?"

Ryn looked up and saw Aidan glaring down at her, a scowl marring his angelic features.

"Monkey girl?" Ryn asked, slightly surprised by the random nickname. She had been called many things in the past, but never a monkey girl.

"Yes," Aidan said quickly, "right now you had on the dazed and crazy expression that all caged monkeys in zoos have".

"I doubt the high and mighty Masters heir would have actually seen a monkey in a zoo before," Ryn retorted.

"I've seen pictures," Aidan mumbled, "but that's not the point. Don't you have to do that bodyguard search of the study before I go in? To make sure that there isn't anything there that would harm me?"

"I only do that for clients," Ryn said, "which you are most certainly not. So don't let me stop you from entering the room".

"Do you know how much trouble you will be in if you let me get hurt?" Aidan cried to the girl, pointing to the study room, "Check in there!"

"If you cared so much about your personal safety then you should have hired a bodyguard of your own," Ryn said lightly, "my loyalty doesn't belong to you".

"You really have no heart, do you?" Aidan huffed as he turned on the lights and stepped inside. Suddenly he gave off a loud scream. Ryn's eyes widened and she rushed into the office after him.

"What happened?" she asked quickly, looking around to see where the danger was. Aidan burst out laughing from the side.

"I guess you're not as bad as I thought," he said, moving to the side and looking over the desk that was in the middle of the room. Ryn gaped at the boy.

"Are you still five?" she asked, shaking her head. With everything that was going on, how could he play such a joke? This certainly wasn't what she signed up for when she went to stay with Madame Ko.

"Cerrith wasn't really and organized person," Aidan said, rummaging through the desk drawers. Papers, pens, and notepads were tossed haphazardly everywhere. The bookshelves in the room were packed with all sorts of tomes, crammed into the bursting shelves in no apparent order.

"I don't see how we will be able to sift through all of this," Ryn said, looking around the room. There were five bookshelves, around six file cabinets and a desk stuffed full with documents.

"Hey, look at this!" Aidan said, holding out a small piece of paper. Ryn went over to the boy and took it from him. It was another picture, but instead of people it had a picture of an old, crumbling castle.

"What is this?" Ryn asked, looking at the picture on confusion.

"Look on the back," Aidan said. Ryn turned around the picture and read the messy handwritten message on the back.

"My dreams—castles, instant noodles, and Cerrith," she said out loud, turning the picture around once more, "what does that mean?"

"Apparently Cerrith used to be somebody's dream," Aidan said, shrugging, "though to be placed on the same level as instant noodles doesn't seem to be all that flattering."

Ryn pocketed the picture and thought once again of the smiling lady in all of the pictures.

"What was she hiding," Ryn whispered, "the mastermind wouldn't be so interested in her unless she was hiding something large".

"I wonder who Mr. Instant Noodles is," Aidan said, "do you think he could have been her husband?"

"Possibly," Ryn said, "but neither Butler nor the man downstairs mentioned anything about a husband".

"My father wouldn't associate with the type of woman who would have a child out of wedlock," Aidan said, moving on to the file cabinets. They were just as disorganized and messy as the desk was.

"Well her husband wasn't one of our fathers, and there really aren't pictures of any other male around the house," Ryn said, thinking back to the pictures on the mantle.

"Wait… look at this," Aidan said, looking at something inside one of the files. Ryn went over to see what they boy was so interested in. Her eyes fell on a piece of paper and widened in confusion.

"Now that is slightly strange," she said slowly.

* * *

Down the hall, Artemis and Minerva were peeking around Cerrith's old room, trying to find any clues that would help them understand the mysterious woman better.

"Oh, she keeps everything so neat!" Minerva said, opening up the closet, "look at how organized this space is!"

"She was slightly compulsive," Artemis said dismissingly, "nothing unusual"

"Anything we find out about her is useful," Minerva said, looking through the closet, "after all, besides her name and the fact that she died we really don't know much else".

"Computer engineering," Artemis said, pointing to a Cambridge diploma above Cerrith's bed, "That's what she majored in".

"That is a strange place to put a diploma," Minerva said, "usually people place them in their office or in a work area. I haven't heard of people displaying them in their own bedrooms, though".

Artemis nodded his head, looking at the diploma. Butler had said that Cerrith came from a poor family. Maybe being able to graduate from Cambridge was her source of pride. In that case, it would make sense for the woman to display her diploma in her room.

The boy looked at the bed, noting nothing too interesting. The sheets were plain and stark, as were the pillows. Cerrith didn't seem like the type of person who likes patterns very much. Artemis continued on and caught sight of the bedside table. He saw in surprise that on the table was a small, framed picture of his father and Ryn's father, both laughing and sitting on the very bed he had just looked at.

"Artemis," Mienrva said as she started to rummage through Cerrith's drawers.

"Yes," the boy answered, still looking at the picture. _Why would Cerrith have a picture of both of those men on her bedside?_

"Do you think that there is something suspicious with Ryn?" Minerva asked. Artemis tore his eyes away from the picture and looked at the small, blonde girl across the room.

"Suspicious?" he asked, raising his brows, "how so?"

"It just seems as though she id hiding something. She is always jumpy and she got so angry when you brought up murder," Minerva said. Artemis sighed.

"If you are accusing Ryn of having murdered someone in the past, I think you are mistaken. The girl is a horrible bodyguard, how would she be able to kill anybody," Artemis said.

"Being a horrible bodyguard doesn't make you incapable of murder," Minerva said quickly, "what kind of convoluted logic is that?"

"Maybe so," Artemis grumbled. He wasn't used to anybody refuting him. "But still, why would Madame Ko send her over specifically if she was going to be a threat to me?"

"That is a good point," Minerva conceded, frowning. Though Madame Ko had sent Ryn personally, there still seemed to be something that wasn't right about the girl. Ryn was a bodyguard, but that still didn't mean that she had to be so secretive with her past.

"Minerva, come look at this," Artemis said aloud. Minerva turned to him and saw the boy holding a piece of paper in his hand. The girl walked over to him and took it. She gave off a little gasp when she read it.

"Well that is something," she said.

* * *

Atemis and Minerva rushed down the hall towards the office at the same time that Aidan and Ryn rushed out of it.

"We found something," all four of them said at the same time. Artemis nodded and led all four of them to the main room. There, he placed the paper that he had found on the coffee table near the fireplace. He then took the paper that Aidan had found and placed it right next to it.

"First, let's look at what Aidan and Ryn found," Artemis said, looking at the yellowing piece of paper. It was a title deed for Marshall Labs.

"That is just a title deed," Minerva said, barely glancing at the paper, "what is so unusual about it?"

"If you would actually look at it, you would see," Aidan said, pointing to where the deed had been notarized. Minerva's eyes flew to the line where the owner of the building had to sign. Suddenly a frown spread across her face.

"Aidan," she said slowly, "why does your father own this place?"

"I have no idea," Aidan said, "he obviously isn't in the computer field, so there would be no reason for him to own this place… and to name it after Cerrith, at that".

"Well your father and Cerrith were good friends," Artemis said, "maybe he decided to help her kick start her business. From what Butler told us, it seems as though she wouldn't have enough money to do it herself."

Aidan shook his head vigorously.

"My father never does that," he said, "he told me before that even if his best friend asked him to help start a business he wouldn't do it. He believes that every person has to forge their own fortunes for their family"

"That is doubtful," Ryn said, looking at Aidan, "he obviously doesn't care about you working hard to forge a fortune"

"That is because I am in the family," Aidan said, "for father, any money that a family member makes belongs to the whole family".

"Then is it possible that Cerrith was somehow rlated to your father?" Minerva asked, "since there is no way that he would have built this place for her if she wasn't."

"How is the head of the Masters family supposed to be related to the daughter of a dry cleaner from Bath?" Aidan cried in shock, as though the very thought of such a thing appalled him.

"Then there must be a reason why Aidan's father would have been willing to buy this place for Cerrith," Ryn whispered, turning towards the paper that Artemis had found.

"That is a birth certificate, isn't it?" she asked slowly, a thought forming in her head, "a birth certificate for Cerrith's child".

"Yes," Minerva said, pushing that paper forward.

"And birth certificates always have the name of the father listed, right?" Ryn continued.

"I know where you are thinking and the answer is no," Artemis said slowly. Aidan turned towards Ryn, gaping.

"Are you trying to accuse my father for getting a woman pregnant out of wedlock!" Aidan cried out.

"I thought it would be logical," Ryn said, "he gets her pregnant and then builds her a company far away in order to buy off her silence".

"My family isn't like Artemis'," Aidan said, "involved in all of that shady business".

Artemis chose to ignore the boy's words and instead looked at the birth certificate.

"On here, it says that the name of the father is Matthew Ackers," Artemis said.

_Why does that name sound familia_r, Ryn wondered as soon as it left Artemis' mouth. She was sure that she had seen that name somewhere before, though she didn't know where.

"I have never heard of that before," Aidan said, looking at the rest of them, "have any of you?" Ryn quickly shook her head and Artemis and Minerva shrugged slightly, showing hat they too had no idea who that mystery man was.

"Maybe he is Mr. Instant Noodle," Aidan said said to Ryn.

"That would make sense," the bodyguard answered shaking her head. _I am probably mistaking him for someone else_, she thought to herself. _The name seems common. Plus, if none of the other group members haven't heard of him, I am sure the same goes for me._

"Mr. Instant Noodle?" Minerva asked, confused. Ryn took out the picture and placed it on the table as well. Artemis and Minerva both looked at it and nodded.

"That probably was him," Minerva said, "who else would write something like that to her?"

"I guess we just have to track him down," Artemis said.

"Oh yes, with nearly 7 billion people in the world, you are going to manage to track down one man," Ryn said, shaking her head.

"Artemis, not even my network would be able to pinpoint this man," Aidan said, "his name seems as though it would be pretty common".

"None of you have quite the network I do," Artemis said, leaning back. Minerva looked up at him quickly with questioning eyes. Artemis just nodded his head. It was time to take things underground.


	6. Envy: Breakthrough

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, everybody. After I finished Why, Why Love I decided to take a short little break to get all my ideas for my other stories and to rest my fingers for a little while. I am fully back now and I promise to update much more frequently. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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**Last One Standing**

**Envy: Breakthrough**

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"I still don't think that this is a good idea".

Artemis just leaned back against the headboard and smiled. It had been hours since the group had left Marshall labs and settled into their hotel, but Minerva was still fretting over Artemis' earlier words.

"Getting extra help isn't a bad thing," Artemis said to the girl, who was sitting at the foot of the bed, a frown marring her pretty face.

'But why would you want to get the fairies involved?" Minerva asked, "We don't even know who we are dealing with here. What if the mastermind knows about fairies?"

"How is that possible?" Artemis asked, sitting up, "unless the mastermind is either you or me, there is no way that they would be able to know about fairies"

Minerva just sat in silence, still brooding.

"If that is the case, then there should be a way to figure out who the man is without having to use any help from Underground," Minerva said, "after all, the Mastermind seemed to set this up to be a puzzle. He wouldn't have left us a clue if there wasn't any way that we could figure it out".

"It is probably possible to find out what we need to know without the help from Holly and the rest," Artemis answered, "but this will just make the whole process faster." Minerva still looked a bit suspicious.

"Besides," Artemis continued, "it is not as though we are asking the fairies to find out the identity of the mastermind. All we need is information about this Matthew Ackers"

"Well how are you expecting to contact them?" Minerva asked, "It's not as though you can just call them and ask for help".

"Well, actually I can," Artemis said simply. Minerva looked at him questioningly, but he gave no further explanations. It had been a couple of months since Holly quit the LEP and started her own private investigation business with Mulch, and at that time Artemis had promised that he would be in touch if ever an interesting problem arose.

What are you talking about?" Minerva asked. Artemis shook his head.

"Don't worry about this," he said, "there is still boxes full of materials that we brought from Cerrith's home that we need to search through. We need to go do that". Minerva frowned at him deeply.

"Why are you hiding things?" she asked him. Artemis shook his head.

"I'm not," he said quickly.

"Is it because of the demon incident three years ago? I grew up a lot since then, Artemis. I'm not dangerous to the fairies," Minerva said.

"I know," Artemis said, "Some old friends started up an investigation business. I was going to ask them for help. It is nothing important"

"Fine," Minerva said, though she still didn't sound entirely happy. She slid off the bed and made her way to the corner of the room, which was filled with stacked cardboard boxes. She sat down on the floor and pulled a box towards her, opening it and examining the materials inside. Artemis looked at her. Had the two of them just had their first fight? Could it even be considered that? Ever since Artemis came back, he found himself constantly amazed by how much Minerva had changed. But for some reason, with the gained maturity, Minerva also seemed to have gotten a little more emotional.

* * *

Outside of the room, Aidan strolled down the small hallway to the main room. He had wanted to get separate rooms, but Artemis had said that it would be safer for them to stick together, so he had ended up booking them the largest penthouse suite he could find. It was a beautiful place, but of course, the beauty of it all was lost on the jaded Aidan.

Slowly he made his way into the main room, which was large and spacious with French windows that led out a majestic balcony that overlooked the DC monuments, lit up beautifully in the inky sky.

Aidan walked towards the mini-bar, opening it and examining its contents. It seemed as though the hotel had taken all of it's alcoholic beverages out since the room had been booked by someone under twenty-one.

"I knew I should have used to fake ID to get this place," Aidan groaned. His eyes darted over the top of the fridge and to the balcony. He saw Ryn on the balcony, leaning against the balcony ledge, her back faced towards him. "What is that monkey girl doing now?" Aidan wondered, walking towards the balcony. He opened the French doors and stuck his head outside.

"Hey, woman—are you throwing up over the balcony?" he yelled out, severely hoping that wasn't the case. Though the boy didn't know much about the girl's background, he knew that she had to have more class than that.

"I do not even want to know why that is the first thing your mind jumps to when you see a person on a balcony," Ryn stated turning around and facing the boy. Aidan almost balked at the sight of the girl. She had taken her top jacket off, and for the first time the boy saw how painfully thin she was. He knew that slim girls were the fashion, but in Ryn's thinness made her look more sickly than attractive.

"What are you doing out here?" Aidan asked, saying the first thing that came to his mind "shouldn't you be inside protecting Artemis or something like that?" Ryn sighed and turned back to gaze at the sights of DC at night.

"I already did a comprehensive check of the all the rooms," she said, her tone bored, "so the only threat that Artemis could face is something that would come into the room through this balcony".

"Don't you ever just get tired of working?" Aidan asked.

"This is only my second day on the job," Ryn answered, "it would be sad if I were already tired of it".

"We're on the 57th floor, I am sure the balcony will be safe," Aidan said, "sleep for a little bit. We can't have the only bodyguard in our group walking around like a zombie all the time. Imagine how much trouble you would be in if I got hurt because you were too tired to protect me".

"And once again," Ryn sighed, "I am not your bodyguard, so nothing would happen to me."

"You know, that rudeness is a vice," Aidan said, "and bodyguards shouldn't have vices. It distracts."

Ryn let out a snort of amusement.

"I am rude," she said bluntly, "I'm plain, I am still slightly afraid of planes, I hold grudges, I smoke occasionally, and I am addicted to sleeping pills. Any other vices you would like to know about?"

"I didn't ask you to give me a laundry list of things that were wrong with you," Aidan retorted, "If you wanted to make sure that I wouldn't fall in love with you or something like that, you don't have to worry about it".

"If you fell in love with me that would just conform the fact that you're an idiot" Ryn answered. In fact, every one of those things Ryn had said to Aidan was a lie. She had just said them so that the boy would think her to be a horrible bodyguard and therefore would stop constantly nagging her about protecting him.

"Well in any case, it seems as though you are a very unusual bodyguard," Aidan said. Ryn nodded her head. She had been aiming for horrible more than unusual, but she would have to settle in this case.

"Well I will leave you to your vices," Aidan answered, walking backwards, towards the French doors. Ryn was a very weird girl, and the angelic boy didn't quite feel comfortable around her.

"That would be for the best," Ryn answered, still not turning around to look at him. Aidan sucked out of the doors, shaking his head. Was there anybody else in the world as strange as the girl he had left on the balcony? He wasn't quite sure.

Slowly, lazily, the boy made his way through the main room. He crashed on one of the couched, idily looking around him for the television remote. He turned his head and his eyes fell on a brown bag that had been carefully placed in the corner of the room.

"Ryn's bag," he whispered to himself, remembering the bag slung across the girl's slight back. He cast his gaze out the doors once more, to make sure that the bodyguard still had her back turned to him, and then preceded to take the bag and open it. Now, Aidan was a naturally curious boy, but normally he was just too lazy to really do any real snooping. However, when it came to the ever-mysterious Ryn, Aidan felt as though he had to find out anything he could about her, for his own safety. If the group bodyguard was unstable, who knew what could happen.

The boy looked through the bag. There were a few notebooks, a couple of slim, rather lethal looking knives, and a change of clothes.

"Nothing special," Aidan said, ruefully, taking out one of the notebooks. He flipped through it and a picture fell to the ground. The boy groaned to himself. It seemed that he had been finding too many pictures lately.

"Why do so many of the clues seem to be pictures?" Aidan asked himself as he picked the photograph up. He looked at it, a frown spreading across his face. The picture showed three smiling teens—all wearing what seemed to be uniforms from the same school. In the middle was a boy with light brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. His arm was lazily slung over the shoulders of a tall, beautiful girl with a waterfall of chestnut curls and a pair of deep blue eyes. On the other side of the boy was a small, frail looking girl with soft golden hair and large brown eyes.

Aidan turned the picture around and saw that there was writing on the back.

"Diana, Micah, Grace. 2006" he read. 2006? That was three years ago.

Slowly, Aidan turned the picture back around and looked at the people in it once more. His eyes widened slightly when they fell back on the image of the girl with the wonderful brown curls.

_It can't be_, he thought. His eyes looked up, back at the girl who was resting against the balcony ledge, _this picture can't be Ryn, can it?_ But the more he looked at the picture, the more he saw the similarities. Take the beautiful girl in the picture; subtract 30 pounds, cut off all the curls, add dark circled under the eyes, make the bright smile disappear and you had Ryn.

"What happened to you?" Aidan asked, shaking his head. He stowed the picture in pocket and put the bag back in the corner, as though he had found nothing. What had happened to the girl in the past three years that transformed her from her former happy and pretty self to the plain and hollow girl that was standing in front of him?

Aidan got up and walked to he room where Artemis and Minerva were sifting through all of the boxes that they had brought from Cerrith's house earlier.

"Alright, breakthrough," Aidan said as he entered the room. Minerva looked up at him, expectantly.

"You found Matthew Ackers?" she asked excitedly. Aidan scoffed.

"I don't even know who that is," the boy said. Minerva gaped up at him and Artemis gave off a sigh. It was just like Aidan to completely loose focus of everything. The boy couldn't be counted on to do anything.

"Matthew Ackers," Artemis repeated, "the man who was the father of Cerrith's child. The person who could very well tell us whatever it is that the mastermind wants us to find".

"We just found out about him today," Minerva said, "how could you forget about him so quickly?"

"Whatever," Aidan said, waving away the two teens' comments, "Look at what I found in Ryn's bag".

"Why were you looking through my bodyguard's bag?" Artemis asked, exasperated.

"Don't you think there is something strange about her?" Aidan asked, "I was looking through it for my own safety".

"You were looking through it for your own amusement," Artemis amended, "Ryn is part of our group, she is in this game just as much as we are. I would like for there to be trust between us".

"How can we trust her is she never tells us anything about herself?" Aidan cried out, "what kind of teammate makes her fellow game players resort to searching through her bag to find out anything about her?"

"What did you find?" Minerva asked, leaning forward. Though she wanted to side with Artemis on this topic, she too felt as though Ryn hid too much for her own good.

"A picture," Aidan asked.

"Another picture?" Minerva asked, "How many are we going to collect before this is all over? We should probably just invest in a nice picture album."

"That is Ryn." Artemis said as he looked over the picture, "how long ago was this taken?"

"It's on the back," Aidan answered, "it was only three years ago".

"Is it possible for a person to look so different in three years?" Minerva asked, looking over the picture in wonder. Had Ryn really once been the beautiful and happy girl in the picture?

"Diana," Artemis whispered, looking at the back of the picture. So that was his new bodyguard's real name? "How unusual".

"Do you think that she has some kind of disease?" Aidan asked, "What else would explain the sudden weight loss?"

"She could," Minerva mussed. Artemis on the other hand looked at the names of the three children intently. He was sure that he had heard the three names together before.

"Don't these names sound familiar?" Artemis asked Minerva, thrusting the picture into the girls' hands.

"Of course they do," Minerva answered, looking them over, "they are completely common names".

"No, I felt as though I had heard them all together before," Artemis said, frowning. He didn't like the feeling of not knowing something. Such a feeling was rare, but when it came, it felt almost sickening.

"Well why don't you look it up?" Aidan asked, "There is a computer in the main room". Minerva looked up at the boy. Artemis nodded his head, getting up.

"You two stay here and look through the rest of Cerrith's belongings. I will go and do a search about Ryn," he said. Minerva pouted. He was leaving her here so that he could find out more things about Ryn? Why did he care so much about his bodyguard?

"Don't you feel nervous leaving your girlfriend by herself with another man?" she asked.

"No," Artemis answered right away, "why would I be?"

"Aren't you worried I'll leave you for another man?" Minerva asked, raising her eyebrows.

"But you don't even fancy Aidan," Artemis said logically. Aidan scoffed.

"You underestimate me, Fowl. I can get any woman out there to fall in love with me," the boy said. Artemis shrugged.

"If Minerva wanted to leave me for you then that would be her decision. I have no part in it," he said. Minerva gaped up at her boyfriend.

"Why don't you have any feeling of jealously?" she demanded, "it's not normal".

"Don't be immature, Minerva," Artemis answered quickly, "there is no time to talk about relationship matters right now. We could all potentially be in grave danger".

Minerva just frowned and turned back towards the boxes, going through them without another word. Artemis shook his head. The girl had matured in so many ways, but at times the tiny, irrational girl that he had first known her as still shined through.

_There isn't any time to dwell on that, though_, Artemis thought as he walked out of the room. There were more pressing things on hand.

Minerva sighed as she went through the boxes. She wasn't one to normally get jealous or clingy, but she still felt a little animosity towards Ryn. Artemis seemed to be a little too interested in finding out information about her. She was only his bodyguard, after all. Employers were usually never that interested in their employees. Slowly Minerva turned towards Aidan, who was lounging on the bed.

"Aidan," she said, a grin creeping on her face, "you said that you could make any girl fall in love with you, right?"

"Of course," Aidan answered, still lying down, "Have you not noticed how good I look? What girl out there could refuse me once I chase her?"

Minerva held back the floodgate of sarcastic remarks that threatened to spew from her mouth.

"I think I know a person that you could never manage to woo," she said tightly. Aidan sprung up and looked at the small girl.

"Impossible," he said, "I can get any girl that I set my mind to. It is my most cherished skill".

"The girl I have in mind would never succumb to your advances," Minerva continued. A scowl marred Aidan's delicate face.

"Such a girl does not exist". The boy retorted. How could there possibly be a girl out there that would refuse Aidan Masters? He was rich and sinfully handsome. What more could anybody want?

"Yes she does," Minerva said, "and she is Artemis' bodyguard".

"Ryn?" Aidan asked, laughing, "Why in the world would I want to chase after her? She isn't nice, pretty, gentle, or any of the qualities that I look for in a girl".

"I told you that you couldn't do it," Minerva said, turning back towards the boxes.

"It's not that I can't, it's just that I physically cannot make myself do it," Aidan answered.

"Is that your excuse?" Minerva asked, smiling to herself. Sure, this method was childish and immature, but it was worth the go. Aidan might be a wonder at seducing women, but Minerva had a brain that was second only to Artemis.

"If I could bring myself to, then I would be able to seduce Ryn in no time whatsoever," Aidan said quickly.

"Ryn doesn't seem like the type of person who would be interested in you no matter what you did," Minerva answered. Aidan felt his blood boil. The boy was in the school of thought that everybody had one talent, one thing that they were exceptional at. For Aidan, that was his skill of wooing women. His looks and his honed skill had never failed him before.

"Fine," the boy said, "how about we make a wager?"

"A wager?" Minerva asked, feigning innocence. Her plan was working perfectly.

"I will bet you that I can manage to make Ryn fall in love with me by the end of this mission quest thing we are on," Aidan said, smiling cheekily.

"That is quite a feat," Minerva said.

"I can do it," Aidan said, cheekily, "Let's say this. If I succeed, you must fulfill whatever favor I ask you to. If you win, then I have to do a favor for you".

"That sounds reasonable," Minerva said, turning back towards the boxes. This was perfect. Ryn and Aidan would be distracted with each other. Sure it was slightly cruel, but Minerva felt as though she had a right to resort to such tactics. She had lost Artemis for three years in some sort of time portal and had just gotten him back. There was no way that she was going to lose him to another girl now. Especially if that girl was Ryn.

* * *

Meanwhile, Artemis was sitting at the desk in the main room, a search page pulled up before him. The boy raised his eyes past the top of the computer screen and saw Ryn, walking idly back and forth on the balcony, the wind whipping her choppy brown hair into her worried, gaunt face. He knew that whatever he was going to find when he searched her name was going to tell him why the girl had deteriorated to the state that she was in right now.

"Whatever it is, it's going to be something horrible," Artemis murmured to himself.. He was used to seeing horrible things, but to see horrible things about his bodyguard. He was supposed to be neutral towards her. Knowing too much about her could be dangerous in their position. But not knowing large things about her could also be dangerous. After all, Ryn was a player in this game for a reason.

Sighing, Artemis brought his hands to the keyboard and started to type in the names of the three children that were on the back of the picture.

Suddenly, Ryn burst into the room, her eyes shining wildly.

"Ryn, what is it?" Artemis asked, standing up. He quickly deleted the names from the search box, "Is there somebody outside".

"Matthew Ackers," Ryn said breathlessly, "I just remembered who he was"

* * *

**A/N: Okay, sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger-- but this way you can just get more excited for the next chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed this one. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Your comments are always so helpful and they make my day. **

**Gracias y besos!! **

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	7. Envy: A Call to Old Friends

**A/N: Alright everybody, here is the next chapter. My writing schedule has been thrown off a little because of finals coming up soon, but I was able to finish this chapter due to the help of lots of caffeine, strawberry mentos, and copious amounts of Korean pop music (an interesting combination to say the least). Hope that you enjoy it!**

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**Last One Standing**

**Envy: A Call to Old Friends**

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Artemis, Minerva, and Aidan were all seated on one of the couches in the main room, looking up at Ryn, who stood before them, hip perched on the TV stand.

"So the reason why we were all called out here is…" Aidan started.

"I remembered where I had heard the name Matthew Ackers before," Ryn answered, frowning slightly. Minerva looked up at the girl with questioning eyes.

"Before you told us that you had never heard of anybody with that name," she said in a accusatory voice. Artemis gave his girlfriend a quick glare. Right now was not the time to accuse Ryn of anything. After all, the bodyguard had information that was crucial to them.

"I thought that it sounded familiar just because it was a common name," Ryn said, "but then I remembered just now that it was the name of the architect who used to work with my father often".

"An architect?" Artemis said, cocking his head to the side.

"My father and him used to work on many projects," Ryn continued, "but then something strange happened".

"Strange?" Aidan echoed, leaning forward. Would something about Ryn's mysterious past come out finally?

"About eight years ago, My father and Matthew completed heir biggest project," Ryn said, "They built a very beautiful school that went on to be one of the most exclusive high schools in the area. My brother, sister, and I all attended it and my mother was its principle".

"What is so strange about that?" Minerva asked, frowning.

"A week after the school was completed Matthew disappeared," Ryn answered. Aidan sucked in his breath.

"Disappeared as in he was abducted?" the boy asked. Ryn shook her head, causing her choppy hair to fall in her face in an even messier fashion.

"No. He just stopped coming by anymore. My father and him stopped working on projects and he wasn't mentioned again," Ryn answered, "that's why I didn't remember him at first".

"That is strange," Artemis commented, "why would Matthew disappear from your father's life completely when the two had been close partners?"

"Even stranger is that fact that Matthew and Ryn's father would ever work together in the first place," Minerva added in. Artemis looked over at the girl.

'What do you mean by that?" he asked, "It is quite possible that the two men would work together. They must have met each other through Cerrith".

"You know nothing of relationships, do you?" Minerva questioned, sounding a bit exasperated. Artemis closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"First, I have written many books on interpersonal relationships, so your point doesn't have any merit. But even if it did, it still has no relevance to the subject at hand," Artemis said stiffly.

"Well maybe you need to rethink your book-writing career," Aidan said, cutting into the conversation, "because even I understand what Minerva is trying to say. There is no way that Ryn's father should have been willing to work with Matthew".

"Why wouldn't my father want to work with Matthew?" Ryn asked.

"Because, according to Butler, your father was madly in love with Cerrith," Minerva said. Aidan nodded his head.

"He was in love with Cerrith, yet she chose Matthew over him." The boy added in, "So I don't know how you father would be able to work with the man who stole his precious Cerrith away from him".

"Don't be absurd," Ryn sad, "the date on the birth certificate that we found occurred well after my parents were married. Matthew didn't steal Cerrith away from anybody".

"You know it was impossible for your father and Cerrith to get married," Minerva said, "he was a son of a rich family and she was just the a poor girl from a small town. Of course your father would have to marry somebody else. That doesn't mean that he wouldn't still resent Caerrith's husband".

"All of you are treating this too emotionally," Artemis said, finally cutting in, "we need to focus once again on the facts. And the facts say that Cerrith had a child with Matthew Ackers. Judging by the birth date on the certificate, we can say that the child that Cerrith had is now as old as us. Yet we have no idea where the child could be and the father of the child has disappeared as well".

"It seems as though everybody in that family has suffered an odd fate," Ryn said, a frown marring her face, "it seems a little odd. All of our families prospered while everybody in Cerrith's family ended up either dead or missing".

"Even with this revelation, we still don't know the location of Matthew Ackers," Minerva cut in, interrupting everybody's thoughts; "We are essentially in the same position that we were before".

"As I said before," Artemis said, "I will call some of my associates and find out Matthew Ackers' location. Ryn's information was extremely helpful".

_Of course precious Ryn's information would be helpful_, Minerva mussed. It wasn't that Minerva was a naturally jealous girl, but she still couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by Artemis' behavior. She had lost him for three years and when he returned it was as though it pained him to even give her the time of the day.

"I don't see how your associates can find Matthew Ackers," Aidan said, "you can't know better people than I do".

"I don't," Artemis said, getting up idly. And it wasn't a lie. Holly and Mulch technically weren't people.

Aidan looked up at the boy, shaking his head. There was no pointing trying to understand Artemis' words. Geniuses, it seemed like, lived in their own world. He didn't understand Artemis' cryptic words and he didn't understand why Minerva suddenly wanted him to seduce Ryn. All he knew was that the two of them were a very strange couple indeed.

_In fact, everybody other person in this group is a nutcase_, Aidan thought to himself, _we have confusing recluse Artemis, spacey genius Minerva, and mysterious Ryn. Why can't I be associated with more normal people?_

"Aidan, you should get some rest," Minerva said, getting up, "if Artemis' sources deliver, which I am sure they will, we will be in for a long day tomorrow".

"Fine," the boy said, getting up. It probably was better that he get some sleep; the last thing he wanted was dark circles around his sparkling eyes.

"Are you going to go to bed?" he asked, turning towards Ryn. The lithe bodyguard just stood where she was, leaning against the television stand, deep in thought. Aidan sighed and went over to her, punching her on the shoulder with his fist. Ryn flinched slightly and looked up at the boy.

"Was there a reason for that physical violence?" she asked.

"Don't you think a bodyguard should be more alert?" Aidan answered. Ryn moved away from the TV stand, not saying a word. Aidan nodded his head. Typical Ryn.

"It's late," he said, "there is no point staying up all night".

Ryn ignored the boy's words and instead picked up her bag. She looked through it, as though she was trying to locate something. Aidan checked his temper and tried to talk to her once more.

"There is another bedroom at the end of the hallway that no one is using. You can sleep in there tonight," he said as politely as he possibly could. Ryn just nodded her head at the boy's words, pulling out a folder from her bag. Aidan sighed. How was he supposed to seduce the girl when she wouldn't even respond to him?

"Okay, well then I guess I will go to sleep then," Aidan said, though he stayed the same spot, unmoving. Ryn finally looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"Is there something that you want?" she asked. Aidan looked at her, confused.

"What?" he asked.

"You normally don't linger in places without a reason," Ryn said, "so either you want something or you need to tell me something".

"Of course I linger in places," Aidan retorted, "I'm lazy! That's all I do"

Ryn gave off a surprised laugh at the boy's straightforwardness. Aidan grinned to himself. He had gotten the stoic girl to laugh. If that wasn't progress he didn't know what was.

Though, unfortunately for him, Ryn sobered up right away and turned away from him, moving back over to the balcony as though nothing at all had happened. Aidan just shook his head. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he originally thought. The boy just got up and padded over to his own room. There was no point in staying up any later trying to make progress with Ryn. After all, it seemed as this whole mystery would not be solved any time soon, so he had plenty of time to snag the mysterious bodyguard.

* * *

Ryn just walked back on the balcony, mentally scolding herself.

_Why are you letting yourself get so emotionally invested in everything_, she thought as the cool DC wind hit her face, y_ou are only in this long enough to earn enough money to hire a decent lawyer._

Sighing, Ryn sat down on one of the balcony chairs. Of all the vices that she had told Aidan about before—only one of them was true, and that was that she could not go to sleep without the aid of sleeping pills. It had been that way since her high school days. Most would call it an addiction, but Ryn preferred to see it as a constant. In her ever-shifting life, the pills were the only thing that had remained the same for her.

_How pathetic am I_, she wondered as she took out the small bottle from her bag, _the only thing that I have been able to keep a hold on is a pill dependence. That is when you know that you have hit rock bottom._

_I suppose this is better than nothing_, she thought. She stood up and gave the balcony another through check before opening the bottle and swallowing two of the pills. She felt her eyelids grow heavy and she fell onto one of the chairs. She remained immobile for a few uncomfortable minutes before drifting off into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, Artemis came back into the main room, clutching onto his hand phone. He stepped onto the balcony, looking down at Ryn's lanky figure sprawled in a rather contorted position on one of the chairs. Even in sleep, the girl looked troubled. Artemis' mind wandered back to the picture that Aidan had showed them earlier._ Was it really possible for a person to go from being a normal and happy high school girl to an emaciated and emotionless bodyguard in the span of three years?_

"Well, Ryn is living proof of that," Artemis whispered, answering his own question. He looked down at the girl and frowned. There was something odd about her sleep. He noticed the bottle that has been tossed next to her and his frown grew deeper. Sleeping pills. So the girl was an insomniac on top of everything else.

Though, at that moment, Ryn's pills did him some good. He needed privacy to call Holly and Mulch and with his bodyguard knocked out with medication, he didn't have to worry about her overhearing him.

Slowly, Artemis walked away from Ryn's sleeping form and made his way to the other side of the balcony. There he opened his phone and dialed a number that had been playing in his mind all day.

Holy answered on the second ring.

"Haven Private Investigation. Holly Short speaking" her familiar voice rang out. Artemis smiled to himself at the sound of it.

"It's been far too long since we last spoke, Miss Short" he said jovially. He heard the small elf suck in her breath on the other side.

"Artemis?" she asked. The boy genius cocked up a single eyebrow.

"Who else would it be?" he asked.

"Artemis! This is a surprise," Holly said, "what do you need?"

"Ah, right to business I see," Artemis answered, a small smile still playing on his lips.

"Is there any other way to start when dealing with you?" Holly asked, her own voice laced with amusement.

"Well considering all that we have been through I think that we can at least be at a point where we exchange a few niceties," Artemis answered, leaning against the balcony railing.

"Ah, well I feel privileged," Holly said, "how have you been doing, then, Artemis?"

"Not so well, unfortunately," Artemis answered, "I am afraid that we have run into some misfortune"

"We?" Holly asked, twirling around in her desk chair. Butler would certainly be out of commission by this time. Who had Artemis dragged into trouble this time?

"It's a bit of a strange predicament that I am in," Artemis said tensely.

"Ah, when isn't it with you?" another familiar voice rung out. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Nice to hear from you, Mulch," he said.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I had you on speakerphone," Holly quipped happily. Artemis groaned. Ever since Foaly had given Holly and Mulch an old Mud Men phone, they had been happily and progressively learning how to use all the distinct functions. Just the other week Mulch had called Artemis using the voice scrambler function, pretending to be a used-tire salesman.

"Well what is it that you need us to do?" Mulch continued, "Strange predicaments are our skill".

"I need you to look up a person," Artemis said. He could hear the dwarf groan very audibly on the other side.

"Just look up a person?' Mulch asked, a very distinct whine in his voice, "that's all? Are you sure you don't need us to look up and kill a person? Or look up and destroy all property assets of a person?"

"Business has been slow for you two, hasn't it?" Artemis asked, amused.

"So slow!" Mulch answered, "I am itching for some action!"

"Our business is not slow," Holly cut in, "it is just taking some time to get started. We don't quite have the funds for advertising so we're going solely on word of mouth".

"That is wonderful," Artemis drolled, "Now about the person I wanted information on…"

"What's their name?" Holly asked, "I already have our database up".

"You have a database?" Artemis asked, surprised.

"Of course, what kind of private investigators would we be without a database," Holly cried indignantly.

"It's actually Foaly's database," Mulch cut in, "we just hack onto it".

"We do get his permission sometimes," Holly added sheepishly. Artemis just shook his head. Typical Holly and Mulch.

"I need you to look up Matthew Ackers," Artemis continued, "he used to be an architect but he has been missing".

"An architect?" Mulch cried, "What's so strange about that? I was expecting something more along the lines of a mob leader".

"Isn't the fact that he has gone missing enough for you?" Artemis asked, a bit exasperated. He really didn't mind Mulch normally, but the dwarf had a way of grating on peoples' nerves then and again.

"Okay, I have information about him," Holly said happily. Artemis stood straight when he heard the elf's words.

"Really?" he asked, "you found contact information about him?"

"Yes," Holly answered, her voice a bit hesitant, "but there is a tiny problem".

"He's dead, isn't he," Artemis asked, slouching down once more. Was this going to be yet another death in this whole mystery?

"Not dead," Holly answered, "but he was checked into the Johannesburg Central Mental Institution two years ago".

"Ah, you got yourself a man in the quack shack," Mulch said.

"Johannesburg as in South Africa?" Artemis asked, choosing to ignore Mulch's coarse words.

"Yes," Holly answered, "it says in here that he was suffering from extreme hallucinations and was living in a delusional state when he was brought into the institution".

_What would Matthew Ackers be doing in South Africa_, Artemis wondered, _Ryn said that he worked closely with her dad, and she isn't from South Africa_. But then Artemis realized that he really didn't know where his bodyguard was from. She could be from South Africa and nobody would know.

"So why exactly did you need information about this man?" Holly asked.

"Can you give me the address of the institution that Matthew is staying at?" Artemis asked, not even hearing Holly's question. Already, the boy's mind was racing with possibilities. There was just something completely wrong with this situation. Ryn's father worked closely with the man who had stolen away the love of his life. Then the two of them had a falling out and a little later Matthew was admitted to a mental hospital.

Artemis kept thinking as Holly read him out the address for the institution. What could have happened to Matthew that made his deteriorate in such a way? And was whatever happened to Matthew the same thing that happened to Ryn? Artemis looked over at his bodyguard, who was still awkwardly curled up on one of the chairs, her open pill bottle next to her.

"Holly, Mulch, thank you," Artemis said a little blankly, "I'll call again soon".

"Wait, what about the bill…" Mulch started to say before Artemis hung up on the two of them. It wasn't as though he had called Holly and Mulch just to use them, it was just that his mind was in the full thought process and he didn't want any distractions.

"Ryn, what happened to your family?" Artemis wondered out loud, "Your father loved Cerrith and she ended up dead. Matthew worked closely with your family and he ended up insane. What about you? How did your family hold up to all of this?"

Suddenly there was a loud noise from inside the hotel room. Artemis walked over to the balcony door, expecting to that Aidan had tripped over some piece of furniture or another.

Instead, he was met by an overturned sofa. Minerva hobbled sleepily into the room, eyes growing wide when she saw what had happened.

"Artemis, what is this?" she asked, looking at the sofa, "did you do this?"

"How could a weakling like Artemis possibly do this?" asked Aidan, who was walked up and was currently standing behind Minerva.

"Well who else could have done it?" Minerva asked, "Our hotel room was completely secure".

"The mastermind," Artemis whispered, walking over to the sofa. He looked in surprise as he saw that a message had been scrawled on the bottom of the couch.

"_Do not overate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind_," Artemis read out loud. Minerva scoffed.

"So he quotes Buddha now as well," she said, shaking her head, "first the bible and now Buddha. If we didn't know any better, we would think that this mastermind is a saint".

Artemis got up, shaking his head.

"The mastermind knew," Artemis said, "he knew that we would get this room. He already set this up from the beginning".

"Well this is the best hotel room available in DC," Aidan said, shrugging his shoulders, "of course we would get it."

"This mastermind seems to know us all too well," Minerva added in, frowning deeply, "though I do not understand why he put this quote from Buddha on the bottom of the sofa. Nor do I understand how he was able to come in here and get out so fast".

"What if he didn't go out?" Aidan asked, suddenly looking around, "what if he is still in here somewhere? Where is that damn bodyguard when we need her?"

"The mastermind isn't still here," Artemis said, slowly, running his fingers across the message on the bottom of the sofa, "it is not his style to linger".

"Don't pretend like you understand the mastermind now," Aidan scoffed at Artemis. The genius boy just shook his head.

"I don't understand the mastermind," he conceded, "and I don't think that the mastermind wants us to understand him".

"What?" Minerva asked.

"I don't think that the mastermind wants us to play this game so that we can discover his identity," Artemis said, "I think he wants us to play so that we can discover something much larger".

"Much larger?' Minerva asked, "like what?"

"If we were playing this just to find out the mastermind's identity, then he would be brining in our families or our pasts into the picture," Artemis said slowly, "I don't fully understand everything yet, but I think that our parents must have done something horrible in the past and that we're paying for it now".

"That's all fine," Aidan said, "but what does our parents or revenge or anything you have brought up have to do with scribbling Buddha quotes on the bottom of a sofa?"

Artemis leaned back, not quite knowing how to answer Aidan's question.

"The statue!" Minerva cried suddenly. Artemis and Aidan both looked back at her. The girl turned on her heels and ran down the hallway. She returned a few seconds later, carrying a small Buddha statue in her hands.

"I found this is Cerrith's room," she said excitedly, holding it up, "it was right next to her bed".

Artemis took the small statue from her and examined it. There didn't seem to be anything odd about it. Aidan sighed and took the statue from the boy, examining it closely. He made a fist and rapped his knuckles against the surface of the statue, causing an echo.

"Don't you know how to check for anything?' Aidan asked Artemis angrily, "This statue is obviously hollow. Whatever the mastermind needed is most likely inside of it".

"How do we get it, then?" Minerva asked, "Do we break it?" Aidan shook his head rapidly. During his years of traveling, Aidan had seen countless works of arts and he knew how to deal with them.

"With these types of things, there is usually an opening in the bottom where they fit the two halves of the statue together," he said, flipping the small image over. He used one of his nails and ran it over the seam on the bottom. Sure enough, the two half's separated a small bit. He continued to work at it until the statue split in half.

"Perfect," he said smugly, as a scrap of paper fell from the statue onto the floor. Artemis immediately reached down and picked it up.

"_It has all been games up until here_," he read aloud, "_if you want to see how deep this hole really goes find him_".

"Him?" Minerva asked, looking up at her boyfriend. Artemis just looked up over the piece of paper, deep in thought. He turned towards Aidan.

"Call your plane," he said to the boy, "we're flying to South Africa".

* * *

**A/N: So there it is. Hope that you enjoyed it. Worry not, Holly and Mulch will make further appearances in the story. I like them too much to just give them this small of a part! As always, I love to hear any comments/feedback/suggestions that you might have. Gracias y besos!! **


	8. Envy: A Discovery

**A/N: Alright, here is the next chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update. University is now over for the year and I have headed back home. Traveling internationally is never fun, but I have finally got settled and it feels wonderful to be back in Taiwan at last. Hopefully now that everything is back normal, I will also be able to update quicker. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

** Last One Standing**

Envy: A Discovery

* * *

Ryn's fingers drummed randomly on the armrest of her plane seat. It was the first time that Artemis had seen the girl do anything of such nature. Usually every one of the girl's movements was completely controlled and calculated, she left no space for unnecessary actions. Artemis also noticed that the girl's eyes were uncharacteristically unattached, gazing out of the window with no focus. The boy chalked his bodyguard's odd behavior to being nothing more than the side effects of her sleeping pills.

_Or maybe it's the fact that they were about to go and meet a man who had so unceremoniously and unexpectedly dropped out of her life three years before._

The second thought that crossed Artemis' mind wasn't as easy to understand. He knew that it was odd that Matthew Ackers had been so close with Ryn's father one minute and then completely ignored the next, but he didn't see why that would Ryn would be upset over that fact. From the way that she had spoken about Matthew, it didn't seem as though the two were exceptionally close to one another.

"What are you thinking about?"

Artemis turned to the voice next to him and saw Minerva looking up at him with sparkling eyes that mirrored the crystal sky that Ryn was so carelessly staring off into.

"I was wondering what we needed to do once we landed," Artemis answered. He knew it wasn't the truth, but seeing how Minerva had gotten jealous of Ryn earlier on, he felt it best that the girl's name not be mentioned in conversation.

"Did you manage to get any information on Matthew's whereabouts?" Minerva asked, "I know you said that he was in South Africa, but the nation is over 1.2 million square kilometers…"

Artemis hid his smile. The girl was so similar to himself. It reminded him of a pair that he couldn't quite remember…

"Gogh and Gauguin" Minerva said simply, naming a pair of incredibly close and incredibly destructive artists.

"Excuse me?" Artemis asked. Minerva smiled up warmly at him.

"You've given me that look before," she answered, "the one where it seems like you are thinking about who we remind you of, but you can't remember".

"You can tell all of that from a look?" Artemis asked, eyebrows raised.

"I'm a genius," Minerva said simply, leaning back in her seat. Artemis mussed over his girlfriend's words. _Gogh and Gauguin_. Gogh had found a soul mate in Gauguin, had found a person who shared his same brain wave, found the only person out there who had understood him.

And in turn, the relationship had caused Gogh to become insane.

Artemis sighed to himself. It was true. Were else was he going to find a person who understood him as well as Minerva could? And where else would he find a person who could drive him as insane?

_Gogh and Gauguin, the geniuses who slowly killed each other. It fit well._

* * *

The plane landed without much of a hitch. Ryn didn't even begin to contemplate how much money in fuel they had blown over the past couple of days and she was fairly certain that Aidan hadn't either. She was sure that the boy would fly the plane to the grocery store if they had an airstrip near enough for him to land there.

Not that she wasn't used to wealth. It was just that wealth as unlimited as Aidan's was always a bit incomprehensible.

"Okay, we followed your wackjob orders and flew to South Africa," Aidan said, turning towards Artemis, "so can you finally tell us what we are doing here?".

"We're here to see Matthew Ackers, of course," Minerva cut in, "isn't that obvious".

Apparently, the news wasn't so obvious to Aidan, whose eyes widened minutely.

"Ah, the mystery man himself," he muttered, "maybe he will have the key to solving this whole damn thing". Plus, even though Aidan didn't know Matthew, he had a bit of respect for the man. After all, Matthew Ackers had managed to snag the most beautiful person that Aidan had ever laid eyes on, even if it was only through pictures.

"Where does he live?" Ryn asked, looking up at Artemis. It had been years since she had last seen Matthew, but if she remembered him well, she knew that he would be living in some majestic building, probably designed and built by himself.

"Well, this is where it gets a little odd…" Artemis answered.

"We can deal with odd," Aidan said.

* * *

The Johannesburg Central Mental Institution looked like something straight from a horror drama. It was a plain building with whitewashed walls and a few windows, all barred, all randomly placed—marring the snow-white exterior. A couple of trees had been planted in front of the building, a single, peeling swing tied to one of them.

A severe and direct, "No trespassing" sign was pushed into the caked dirt that collected in front of the large, wrought iron gate that led to the institution. But besides the ominous "No trespassing" that greeted them, there was no other sign in sight. No sign to tell them what the building was used for, no sign to give them any clue of what they were supposed to do.

"So do we just go in there?" Aidan asked after the group had stood in front of the iron wrought gate for a few moments. All of them knew that they would have to enter the building. But for some reason none of them could bring themselves to do so. It was as though there was some type of force just holding them back.

Ryn sighed and stepped inside the gate. Out of all four of them she was the bravest. After all, she was the bodyguard.

_After all, she had been through much more terrifying situations._

Artemis followed the girl, and Minerva followed him. Aidan stood where he was, firmly planted to the ground outside of the institution gates. If there was one thing that the boy believed, it was that he was precious. _How could the prize son of the Masters group put himself in any kind of danger?_ That was just stupid.

"Aidan…" Minerva said, calling out to the boy. Aidan shook his head.

"If the only heir to the Masters group were to get injured, that would be detrimental to the whole European pop…"

Ryn grabbed the boy by the collar of his neatly pressed shirt and drug him through the gate.

"If I hear one more thing about the Masters family, I might just kill you," she said simply to him, letting go of his collar. Aidan rubbed his neck and glared at the girl.

"What do you think your doing? Do you how much this body is worth? You can't just go dragging me wherever you want!" he cried out.

"You agreed to be part of the group, you should comply with us," Ryn answered, her tone clipped.

"You're one to talk!" Aidan yelled at her, "Who is the one that won't tell us anything about her past no matter how useful the information might be?"

"That is completely different," Ryn answered, her voice become icier, "it is in my job description to not disclose any personal information".

"Well it is in my job description to not die!" Aidan retorted. Artemis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It seemed as though the rare times that Ryn chose to speak, she always managed to rile up Aidan's temper. It was a constant bickering between the two of them.

"Aidan no one is going to die," Artemis said simply, "this is a mental institution. It's a hospital, not some sort of haunted house."

"Oh please, you've read books before," Aidan said, "people always end up dying or nearly dying whenever they go into a mental house."

"I am afraid I don't read those types of books," Artemis said curtly. He turned towards Ryn and nodded, motioning for her to move on ahead. Though Artemis was not particularly afraid of the institution, it was still the duty of the bodyguard to walk in front of her employer in order to scout out danger. And with the mastermind still out there, who knew what lay ahead of them.

Ryn nodded back at the boy and started to make her way to the front door of the building. The wind was not blowing at all, so the tree swing stood perfectly stationary, a direct contrast from the horror movies where such a swing would be creakily moving.

In ways, this way was even more terrifying.

The whole place was just so still. No wind blew, no noises could be heard. The cracking of the dry grass under their feet was the only sound coming from anywhere.

"Okay, is it okay to move a little faster?" Aidan asked Ryn, eyes darting nervously over everything. Ryn nodded her head fractionally and picked up her speed a little. She wasn't afraid, but she was completely comfortable either.

Finally, the group reached the front door. Ryn grabbed the ancient knob and pried the door open.

They were met by a loud, blood-curdling scream.

Aidan blanched and hid himself behind Ryn's tall frame, grabbing onto her shoulders in hoped that she would be able to protect him from whatever monster made that scream. Minerva gave off a little gasp, and calm Artemis just started to calculate what the cause of the noise could be.

"I told you ghosts and other things lived in mental houses," Aidan whispered to Ryn, still clutching on to the girl for dear life.

"It was a person," Ryn whispered back, "ghosts aren't real".

"Like that's better," Aidan hisses fiercely, "Did you hear how evil that scream sounded? I bet it was made by a crazy person!"

"Well we _are_ at a mental institution…" Ryn answered.

"You two, stop whispering and come over here," Minerva called out to the two of them, eyebrows raised as she saw how close Aidan was to Ryn. Aidan immediately let go of the bodyguard's shoulders and the two of them walked over to Minerva and Artemis.

"What is it?" Aidan asked quickly, trying to ignore Minerva's pointed stare, "what caused that noise?"

"Electroshock therapy," Artemis answered, wrinkling his nose slightly. Ryn cocked her head and frowned.

"I thought that hasn't been used in a long time," she said.

"It is still used," Minerva answered matter of factly, "but only in extreme cases. Usually with extreme depression or schizophrenia".

"I don't think this place is a normal mental institution," Artemis whispered. "It wasn't on any maps, there wasn't a sign on the door stating what this was".

"What are you four doing here?"

The group turned around to find a woman with a very angry expression on her face. She was wearing a plain white knee-length dress and her lips were pressed into a very thin line.

"We…" Ryn started.

"Didn't you see the no trespassing sign outside?" she asked, her accented voice harsh, "we don't take lightly to intruders here".

"We aren't intruders," Minerva said quickly, stepping in front of Ryn. Artemis stood back. In his absence, Minerva had learned to have a special way with words. He was sure that the girl's smooth talking mixed with her baby doll looks would get them where they needed to go.

The woman looked at Minerva's large sky blue eyes and head of Shirley Temple curls and noticeably relaxed a bit. Minerva's deceivingly innocent looks had that affect on people. Compared to Ryn, who was all sharp angles and deep, rich colors, Minerva was soft and light. It put people at ease.

"Then do you have business here?' the woman asked. Minerva nodded her head.

"We are here to see Matthew Ackers," she answered. The woman still seemed a little put off guard. She didn't such an innocent looking girl could lie, but still she wasn't completely sure. Aidan saw the situation and smiled.

"Let me handle this," he whispered to Minerva. If there was one thing the boy could do, it was work wonders with women. The boy casually strode up to the lady and pinned her with his brightest smile. The lady's breath caught in her throat.

"I am very sorry to bother you, miss," he said, his beautiful emerald eyes sparkling up at her through the bangs of his platinum hair, "but today is our uncle's birthday".

"Uncle…" the woman breathed, a hand reaching up and clutching her chest as Aidan's intense emerald gaze stayed on her face. His angelic face broke out into a pitiful expression that made the woman just want to embrace and comfort the boy.

"Matthew Ackers is our uncle," he said, "he was always our favorite uncle, and it killed us when he was admitted into there. We thought that he might be lonely, so we decided to come and visit him on his birthday".

"Oh, that is so kind," the lady said. Aidan nodded and reached out, grabbing one of the woman's hands. Ryn nearly gagged at the cheesy gesture, but the lady looked as though she was in heaven.

"Will you please let us go see him?" Aidan asked her, eyes full of sincerity, "we are all that he has left".

"Oh yes, of course you can go," the woman said. Aidan smiled brightly at the woman and she looked as though she was about to faint, "…let me find out where his room is".

"Incredible," Minerva whispered, watching the interaction between Aidan and the institution employee. The boy was not exaggerating when he was describing his woman-wooing skills.

Aidan turned around and smirked at the group.

"Come on, dear siblings," he said, trying to control his laughter, "let's go visit our precious uncle."

"I can't believe that worked," Ryn grumbled as the group of them followed the dazed woman through a very thick set of doors.

"Why not?' Aidan asked, falling back and matching the girl's stride, "I can be pretty impressive when I put my mind to it".

"Then maybe you should do that more often," Ryn retorted before falling into silence once again. Aidan figured she had probably reached her talking quota for the day.

Ryn, however, was merely deep in thought. The institution that they were in was not at all a normal one. Each door was made out of strong metal and had bars on it, as though the staff here was more afraid of going in the rooms than they were the people in the rooms escaping. Load moans and screams regularly verberated on the cold white walls.

"As I am sure you know, this particular hospital is where we keep all of our high risk patients," the woman said as she led them through the halls, "each floor is a different risk level".

"How many floors are there in total?" Artemis asked trying to make a mental blueprint of the building.

"There are four floors in total," the lady answered, "floor one are where we keep the patients that pose the least threat, while the patients on floor four are the ones that are the most dangerous."

"And where is Matthew… I mean, our uncle…What floor is he on?" Aidan asked. The lady walked over to a large set of files at the end of the hallway.

"That is just what I am about to look up," she said, opening the A cabinet. She flipped through a few files until she pulled out one that said "Matthew Ackers" in bold letters. She opened the file and looked in it, eyebrows shooting up.

"Mr. Ackers is a floor four patient," she said quietly, looking up at the group of teens in front of her, "only those on the visitors list have access to see him".

"Those on the list?" Aidan asked. The woman nodded.

"There is one person who is in charge of the list that the names are put on," the woman continued, "and that person is the only one that can add or take off names from the list of approved guests".

"Who is in charge of Matthew's list?" Minerva asked.

"I am most certainly not allowed to disclose of that information," the lady said, "though it seems as though that person just added four more names to the list just yesterday".

"Artemis Fowl, Minerva Paradizo, Aidan Masters, and Diana Rynnon," Artemis said quickly. Ryn blanched as Artemis said her name out loud. She looked at him with wide eyes.

_How did he know her real name? And if he knew that, what else did he know about her?_

She decided to push those thoughts out of her head for right now. If Artemis had known her whole story, he surely would have confronted her about it by now.

"Well…yes," the woman said, looking up at them, "are those the four of you?"

"Of course they are," Minerva snapped, "how else would Artemis know the names?"

"But I thought you were all siblings," the woman said.

"Different fathers," Aidan answered, curtly, "now can you take us up to see Matthew?"

"I am not authorized to go to the fourth floor, let me get an attendant for you," she said quickly. She turned and went in a door that was next to the file cabinets.

"Matthew is crazy enough to be on the forth floor," Adian whispered to the rest of the group, "this is becoming more dangerous than I would have hoped for".

"The mastermind wanted us to come here," Artemis answered, "it is obvious that he is the one that is in control of the list".

"But who would know so much about this?" Ryn wondered out loud, "who would know so much about our fathers' pasts? Plus, how did this person end up in charge of Matthew Acker's list? He must have obviously been very close to him".

"How do we know it's a man?" Minerva cut in, "the mastermind could every well be a woman. And a woman that we all have heard much about, at that".

"What are you trying to say?" Aidan asked, turning towards the small girl.

"Well what if Cerrith really isn't dead?" Minerva asked, "we didn't find a death certificate in her belongings. She could still be alive and making up play all these games".

"Well, that is a possibility," Artemis said, "though I don't think that Butler would lie to us about her death, unless she faked it".

"That is probably it," Minerva said, eyes lighting up, "she most likely faked her own death and left".

"Why in the world would she have any motive to do that?" Aidan asked. Minerva just shrugged.

"I guess we have to keep playing to find out," she answered.

Suddenly, a burly looking woman stepped out of the room. The group looked up and saw that she was holding a small silver box tied together with a blood red ribbon, identical to the box that they had found in Cambridge.

"You are the group of four here to see Matthew Ackers?" she asked. The teens nodded. The woman held out the box, which Artemis hesitantly took.

"The person who put you on the list told me to give this to you on your arrival here," she said. Artemis opened the box to find another puzzle piece, this one of a woman.

"The mother of the baby," Minerva whispered, remembering the other puzzle piece that they had received, "that is probably supposed to represent Cerrith and her daughter".

" That's not too big of a secret. We found out about Cerrith and her kid ages ago," Aidan said.

"The puzzle isn't complete yet," Artemis answered, handing over the piece to Ryn, who stored it in her ever-present bag, along side the other piece and the locket she had found on the first day in the Fowl manor.

"Are the lot of you ready?" the burly woman asked. The group looked up at her and nodded collectively. The lady led them to an elevator at the end of the hallway. She swiped her ID card and the doors smoothly opened. The group walked into the elevator. As soon as they were all in, the door shut and metal bars fell from the elevator ceiling, confining the group in a cold, steel cage.

"We have these for protection," the lady said as she noticed the groups discomfort and confusion, "normally we transport patients in the elevators, so we have to make sure there is no way for them to escape".

"Escape?" Aidan asked, "it's as though they are prisoners".

"The patients here are much more dangerous than prisoners," the lady said as the elevator whirled up. It finally stopped on the first floor. The metal gates went up and the door opened once more.

The teens were faced with a long, white hallway—four metal doors on either side. There was no sound coming from any of the rooms. Artemis figured that the inhabitants of the fourth floor were all very heavily sedated.

"This is Mr. Acker's room," the woman said, pointing to the first door on the right, "I can open the lock, but I am not authorized to enter the room, but there is a guard inside of it for your protection".

"Oh," Minerva said lamely. How dangerous was Matthew?

The woman opened the door and quickly scooted away, "I will be waiting here near the elevators for when you are finished," she said.

"Thank you," Artemis said quickly, opening the door of the room. With a long look at the rest of the group, the boy entered, followed by a hesitant Ryn, and even more hesitant Minerva, and a terrified Aidan.

The room wasn't at all like they expected. Instead of it being stark white, the walls were painted a dull shade of grey. The floor was hard cement and there was no window. The room consisted of nothing but a bed with a trunk at its foot, and a slowly revolving fan on the roof. There was a burly man standing next to the door (Ryn assumed that this was the guard), and an emaciated man with long, brown hair sitting on the bed. The man on the bed did not even lift his head to look at the group as they came in.

"Is that Matthew?" Artemis whispered to Ryn.

The man on the bed was considerably thinner and more haggard looking than Matthew, but there was no doubt in Ryns mind that it was him. She nodded her head resolutely and walked over to him.

"Mr. Ackers?" she said out loud, "It's me…Diana".

The man looked down, though he started to shake a bit. The rest of the group came over to Ryn, as though they subconsciously thought that the girl would be safer if they were there. Though none of them wanted to admit it, they were becoming steadily closer to one another as the odd game continued. They had been near complete strangers a couple of days ago, and already they were trying to protect one another.

"It's been a long time since we have seen each other," Ryn said, trying to keep all emotions out of her voice—but it was difficult, even with her new, stoic persona. Matthew had been a very close friend of her family's. She remembered him being a jovial and slightly excessive person, always laughing and dressing himself in the latest fashions. To think that the man that had almost been like a dad to her was now in this condition… it was hard for the girl.

Matthew still didn't say a word.

"Maybe he can't recognize me," Ryn said finally.

"Ma'am, it's probably for the best that he can't recognize you," the guard next to the door said. All four teens turned to look at him.

"Excuse me?" Aidan asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, ever since he came here, Mr. Ackers has been saying awful things about a girl called Diana," the guard explained, "I assume that would be you, miss".

"What kind of things?" Ryn asked, a bit taken aback. She did not remember ever being rude to Matthew; there should be no reason why he would say awful things about her.

"About how it was because of you that everything happened, though I don't quite know what he is referring to," the guard answered, "but he is highly delusional, so you can't really trust anything he says," the man added in quickly once seeing a look of horror creep on to Ryn's face.

But the damage was already done.

Artemis, who had never seen Ryn express any emotion, was a bit taken aback by how quickly her stoic face was seized with a look of terror. It was as though the guard had just vocalized the girl's greatest fear.

"What happened because of Ryn?" Aidan whispered to Artemis. The boy just shrugged. He was as clueless to his bodyguard's past as the rest of them.

"Do you think she killed someone?" Minerva whispered to the two of them.

"I don't think she could," Aidan answered back. Sure, Ryn was an odd one, but she seemed physically incapable of harming anyone.

"I can hear all of you," Ryn said shortly, turning towards the group. They had the decency to look embarrassed.

"If you don't mind, I would like some time alone with Matthew," she continued. Aidan looked towards Minerva and Minerva looked at Artemis. The genius boy mulled over the thought for a few seconds.

"Five minutes," he finally answered, making his way to the door. He didn't know if Ryn's presence would make Matthew talk to just enrage him; but Artemis had to admit that Ryn was likely the only one of them that had the ability to extract some useful information from the man.

* * *

Aidan and Minerva followed Artemis out of the room. They closed the door behind them and stood there for a few seconds, saying nothing.

"This doesn't feel right," Aidan said, breaking the silence, "what if Matthew suddenly cracks? I mean, I am sure he is on the fourth floor for a reason"

"Are you worried about Ryn?" Minerva asked the boy, slightly amazed.

"Of course—she is obviously a large piece of the puzzle," Aidan answered, "If she dies now we'll be playing this game forever".

"Excuse me, are you ready to leave?"

The three teens turned to find the burly woman from earlier standing by the elevator.

"We're obviously missing one," Aidan snapped, "is your memory that bad?"

Artemis nudged the boy in the side to quiet him.

"We are still waiting on a person from our group," he explained.

"Oh, the Rynnon girl?" the woman asked. Artemis noticed that she had said that comment in an odd way.

"Yes…" he answered slowly.

"Oh, bless that girl," the woman said, "what an awful past she has".

"You know about her past?" Aidan asked, ears perking up. The woman frowned.

"You three seem close to her, I am sure you know as well," she said.

"We don't," Artemis said curtly, providing no further explanation.

"Well, I am not to gossip…" the woman continued. Aidan sighed and walked over to the woman. He slipped a couple of rather large bills in her hand.

"I am sure you can change your habits," he whispered to her. The woman's eyes widened.

"A little change never did hurt," she answered. Aidan walked back to Artemis and Minerva, smirking.

"Ah, I am too good at this," he said happily. Artemis shook his head. Buttering hands required no skills whatsoever.

"Alright, so what happened to Ryn?" Minerva demanded.

"Well, I am sure that you have all heard about the Rynnon patricide," the woman whispered. Artemis and Minerva's eyebrows rose significantly.

"Ah, that is where I heard those three names before," Artemis mussed, thinking back to the picture.

"Patricide?" Aidan asked.

"It is when a child kills his or her parents," Minerva explained. Aidan gaped.

"Ryn killed her own parents?" he asked, not able to believe it.

"Obviously not," Artemis drawled, "or else she would be in jail right now".

"It happened three years ago," the woman continued; the three teens all came closer to hear the lady better, "the Rynnons were a very influential family—the father a famous architect and the mother the principal of the best international school in the city. Then one day, their house burned down. The parents and the youngest daughter all died in the fire—and the son and older daughter both escaped".

"Those three from the picture!" Aidan gasped, suddenly realizing the very fact that Artemis has realized minutes ago.

"They said that the son was responsible for setting the fire," the woman continued, "apparently he had some type of row with his parents."

"Where is he now?" Aidan asked The woman shrugged.

"In a jail somewhere, I suspect," she answered. Artemis straightened up and looked at the door. So this was what Ryn was trying to hide from them? It did make sense that she wouldn't want to talk about it.

"Ryn, what else are you hiding?" Artemis whispered. He always had a feeling that him and Ryn were the two main players in this game and that whatever the outcome was would affect them both deeply.

_He had no idea how right he was._

* * *

**A/N: Okay, there it is. I know it was rather long, but I guess I wrote a lot to make up for the fact that I haven't updated in a while. As always, any comments you have are always welcome and very appreciated. Gracias y besos! **


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